FEATURE
This enforcement trend is amplified by emerging and evolving localization regimes. Markets such as India, Vietnam and Brazil are increasingly specifying which datasets must remain within national borders and the conditions under which they can be transferred or accessed internationally.
Infrastructure decisions are no longer purely technical. They are shaped by regulatory and geopolitical factors, raising the bar for data centre operators. Capacity alone is insufficient; customers now expect clarity and assurance on data sovereignty from the outset.
Demand is now shifting toward carrier-neutral, multi-cloud environments that pair dense connectivity with demonstrable compliance, ensuring flexibility as regulations continue to evolve. In practice, this approach enables organizations to align specific workloads with the appropriate jurisdictions, keep specific data sets within national borders while maintaining access to global services and separate network and cloud choices so that legal obligations can be met without redesigning entire architecture.
Facilities that combine strong cybersecurity, resilience and internationally recognized certifications become strategic because regulation is moving faster than much of today’ s infrastructure.
In this shifting environment, decisions about where infrastructure is located and who operates it have become decisions about governance.
The nationality and jurisdiction of the infrastructure operator dictate which legal frameworks apply to data and the extent of extraterritorial claims.
These jurisdictional factors have direct architectural consequences. Data centres must be built for adaptability, able to adjust as rules, risks and technologies evolve and trust must be embedded from the ground up.
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INTELLIGENT CIO APAC www. intelligentcio. com