Following in the footsteps of peers across the region, Colombia will formally launch its own data center association in the coming weeks.
Called Acoldc, the entity has former HostDime Colombia CEO Edwin Tello at the helm and will be officially announced on August 21.
In an interview with BNamericas, Tello shared Acoldc's plans, the membership process and the outlook for the country's data center market.
"Our goal is to position Colombia as a regional tech hub and a driving force for national development," said the executive.
"The association started to take shape in October, and we are currently working on affiliating various companies in the sector, and on structuring the committees."
In recent years, driven by the sector's growth and the need for dialogue with regulators and with the public sector, and for development of a specialized workforce and definition and promotion of standards, data center associations have been announced in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the Caribbean and, more recently, in Peru.
In Colombia, the new entity is expected to broadly represent the ecosystem, said Tello, bringing together developers, integrators, providers, designers and experts, among others. Acoldc is also establishing partnerships with local technology and IT associations, he added.
The country currently has 30-40 data centers (colocation and hyperscale sites), around 90MW of installed capacity and projections of more than US$100mn in investments for projects actively underway in the next three years.
