Mexico, in addition to being the second most competitive economy in Latin America and one of the fifteen largest in the world, is one of the countries leading the present and future of the data center industry. Mexico has good connectivity that allows for minimal latency, but needs more skilled workforce, competitive costs for both energy and renewables and a transparent, simple and stable regulatory framework, as well as availability of more industrial land with access to energy.

All these advantages do not leave any company in the sector indifferent. More and more companies are investing heavily in this country. However, there are numerous challenges that the industry still has to overcome in order to continue positioning the Mexican data center industry in the international scenario. The time is now and, aware of the need to support the development of the sector, the Mexican Data Center Association (MEXDC) has been founded.

The Bajío region, one of the areas of greatest interest, was the location chosen for the signing of the MEXDC Civil Society Charter today, 15 February, in the city of Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico. The founding partners and promoters are Ascenty, DatacenterDynamics (DCD), Equinix, Layer9 Data Centers, Odata, Scala Data Centers and KIO. After this date, the Association will be officially presented to the data center industry, government, institutions and press in an event in Mexico City on 22 March.

Main objectives of MEXDC, industry's voice

MEXDC will act as a loudspeaker, as a recognizable point of contact, for the needs of the industry, being the interlocutor between government, media and society at large, as well as managing regulatory, economic and social policy issues.

It will be responsible for promoting and ensuring the image and economic importance of the data center industry, both in the short and long term. In addition to securing and preserving the position achieved by the Mexican data center industry in the present, it will also shape the basis for the future of the sector.

Another of the Association's main lines of action will be the promotion of initiatives to improve the relationship between data centers and the environment, with the aim of guaranteeing a more sustainable tomorrow.

To ensure the survival of this sector of such potential and relevance for the digital economy and society, it is essential to have specialised and trained human talent in order to have the right foundations on which to consolidate this growth. To this end, they will promote public education programmes for the development of qualified people.

The Board Member is formed by Amet Novillo (Managing Director Equinix Mexico) as President, Alejandro Cantú (COO Layer9) as Vice President, Jose Luis Friebel (Managing Director Latam DCD) as Secretary General, Arturo Bravo (Managing Director Ascenty Mexico) as Treasurer, and Santiago Suinaga (CEO KIO Data Centers), Carlos Forero (Managing Director Latam Odata) and Dax Simpson (Director Expansion Latam Scala) as members.

The Association's activity will be based on:

• Production and dissemination of all types of studies, market analyses, drawing up activity and performance indexes, classifications, rankings or impact measurements.
• Development of coordinated or collaborative actions with any level of administration for the understanding and analysis of any normative, regulatory or operational changes that may affect the sector or its business models.
• Collaboration, under any scheme, with the administration for the launch or development of projects aimed at digital adoption or evolution, migration to the public cloud or outsourcing of their data centres.
• Holding of events, seminars or promotional and outreach activities. 
• Dissemination to the media, public representatives and society in general of any kind of knowledge or position on any issue relevant to the Association. 
• Participation in exhibitions, organising meetings, signing international alliances and, in general, any type of activity that involves the defence of the sector, the creation or attraction of talent, the international promotion of associates and other actors in the sector.

Any colocation or hyperscale data center company operating infrastructures in the Mexican 
Republic can become an Associate of MEXDC, and any company in the data center ecosystem can participate as a partner: vendors, integrators, distributors, engineering 
companies, consultants, etc...