Addressing Africa’s Data Center Deficit with Dr. Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Access Data Centres

This episode of Over the Edge features an interview between Bill Pfeifer and Dr. Ayotunde Coker, the CEO of Open Access Data Centres. Dr. Coker joined the company in June 2022 and has moved rapidly, deploying over 35 data centers across South Africa and Nigeria to address the data center deficit in Africa, accelerating the continent’s digital transformation. In this conversation, Dr. Coker discusses edge as a continuum, the opportunities in Africa and the impact of AI.

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Key Quotes:

“What's the edge? The edge is a continuum.”

“The core essence of what we do is bringing this core, open, converged digital infrastructure together that actually is changing the narrative in Africa. It's bringing digital infrastructure penetration into the continent and transforming economies in the continent.”

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Show Timestamps:

(01:20) How did Dr. Coker get started in technology?

(02:40) What brought Dr. Coker to Open Access Data  Centres

(07:22) OADC’s edge data centers 

(13:27) The edge as a continuum 

(16:23) How OADC is investing in infrastructure in Africa 

(19:48) The large market in Africa of the “young, content-rich demographic”

(21:17) What are OADC's customers doing at the edge? 

(28:14) Overcoming lack of power 

(32:06) How OADC thinks about sustainability 

(37:42) How is AI impacting their work?

(46:28) What comes next for OADC?

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Sponsor:

Over the Edge is brought to you by Dell Technologies to unlock the potential of your infrastructure with edge solutions. From hardware and software to data and operations, across your entire multi-cloud environment, we’re here to help you simplify your edge so you can generate more value. Learn more by visiting DellTechnologies.com/SimplifyYourEdge for more information or click on the link in the show notes.

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Links:

Follow Bill on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Coker on LinkedIn