Data Centres: A Cornerstone of Australia's AI Future

Australia stands at a critical juncture in the global AI race. Recently at the Federal Productivity roundtable, Scott Farquhar, co-founder of Atlassian, called for Australia to become the "data centre capital of the Asia-Pacific," citing the nation's strategic location near Southeast Asia, abundant land, cheaper green energy, and political stability as key competitive advantages. This vision is already gaining momentum with Amazon's record AU$20 billion investment in Australian data centre infrastructure from 2025-2029, and NextDC, Goodman Group, and other major players collectively committing over $2 billion in new projects.
However, strategic data centre development requires sophisticated analysis of multiple complex factors. Farquhar envisions Australia hosting "digital embassies" where foreign nations could store sensitive data under their own laws while benefiting from Australia's infrastructure advantages. The Australian Government's "Rewiring the Nation" program is investing $250 million to upgrade power grids, while new regulations mandate five-star NABERS energy efficiency ratings for government data centre providers.
Currently, decisions about data centre location and operations often lack comprehensive analysis of available government infrastructure data. The challenge lies in using Australia's rich datasets to optimise both where data centres should be located and how they should operate to balance energy efficiency, connectivity requirements, regulatory compliance, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunities.

High-Level Questions:
- Long-term Location Selection: Where could data centres be positioned to optimise performance, and minimise latency?
- How can we optimise location to enable smooth operational and energy consumption efficiency?
- How can we select sites that are future-proofed?

• Operational Efficiency: How can energy grid data and pricing information inform operational decisions about power consumption timing, renewable energy integration, and grid load balancing?
• Using telecommunications infrastructure data, how can data centres optimise their network connections?

You are expected to:
- Demonstrate how government data, and where possible, spatial government data, can guide practical decisions about where to locate data centres and how to operate them efficiently. This might include site selection algorithms, energy optimisation strategies, connectivity planning, or operational risk management.
- Create tools, models, or visualisations that could realistically inform location and operational decisions by government, investors, or industry players. Solutions might include location scoring systems, operational optimisation dashboards, energy management tools, or connectivity analysis platforms.
- Demonstrate, where possible, how your solution could be scaled across different Australian regions, especially with the release of more and more local and federal datasets.