Digital Realty Expands Innovation Lab Network to Singapore and Japan to Accelerate AI and Hybrid Cloud Implementation
Asia Pacific will provide real-world environments for customers and partners to test and optimize next generation infrastructure
SINGAPORE, Feb. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digital Realty (NYSE:DLR), the world's largest cloud- and carrier-neutral data center platform, today announced the expansion of its Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL) into Singapore and Japan. This marks the first expansion of the company's global DRIL network into Asia Pacific, following the successful launch of the inaugural DRIL facility in Northern Virginia in September 2025, which received over 120 visits from our enterprise customers.
The new DRIL locations will offer our ecosystem of partners and customers fully supported, real-world testing environments where they can bring their own workloads or use pre-configured infrastructure to validate AI and hybrid cloud deployments before scaling live. This is especially important as AI adoption increases and infrastructure readiness has emerged as a critical barrier to moving from experimentation to production at scale.
The launch represents Digital Realty's commitment to support Singapore and Japan's continued leadership in AI innovation. In Singapore, AI adoption is driving continued growth in the nation's digital economy, which now accounts for 18.6% of total GDP. At the same time, Japan plans to invest 10 trillion yen or more in the semiconductor and AI sectors by 2030. Both are expected to be available for use by customers and partners this year.
Enabling next-generation AI infrastructure
The Singapore DRIL is designed to serve as a digital innovation hub, bringing together local customers, partners, and research institutions with global technology providers and industry participants seeking to develop, test and deploy AI and hybrid cloud solutions in Singapore.
In Japan, the DRIL will be located at the company's NRT12 data center in the Greater Tokyo area. Designed to support advanced AI and high-performance computing use cases, it will feature 20 racks with direct liquid cooling (DLC) capabilities, enabling support for high-power-density workloads.
"Sustaining rapidly expanding digital economies requires innovation ecosystems built on infrastructure that is not only AI-ready, but also efficient, resilient, and trusted," said Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty.
"Since launching the DRIL in the US, we've seen strong demand from customers and partners across Asia Pacific seeking dedicated environments to validate AI and hybrid cloud architectures before deploying at scale. Bringing this capability to Singapore and Japan reflects the digital maturity of these markets and their critical role in shaping the region's long-term digital competitiveness. By creating spaces where enterprises can test, optimize, and de-risk their AI infrastructure, we're accelerating responsible deployment and strengthening Asia Pacific's position as a hub for trusted digital innovation."
Purpose-built infrastructure for AI and hybrid cloud validation
The new DRIL locations will enable businesses in Singapore and Japan to test performance, optimize configurations, and seamlessly connect to cloud and network providers via ServiceFabric®, Digital Realty's global interconnection and orchestration platform.
By leveraging Digital Realty's global experience in deploying AI-ready infrastructure and its proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) methodology, the Singapore DRIL enables customers to test, optimize, and validate AI deployments in real-world conditions, reducing complexity and significantly accelerating the journey from pilot to production.
Consistent with the global network of DRILs, key features will include:
- High-density AI and HPC testing – Support for AI and high-performance computing workloads with high-density colocation, accommodating deployments of up to 150kW per cabinet.
- Energy and cooling-aware testing – Enables enterprises to evaluate AI performance, power density, and efficiency trade-offs before full-scale deployment.
- AI infrastructure optimization – Enables businesses to explore AI-specific power, cooling, and GPU resource requirements in an environment optimized for AI workloads.
- Hybrid cloud validation – Direct cloud connectivity allows enterprises to refine hybrid strategies and seamlessly onboard through ServiceFabric®, Digital Realty's interconnection and orchestration platform.
- AI workload orchestration – Customers can orchestrate AI workloads across Digital Realty's Private AI Exchange (AIPx) to enable secure, low-latency integration across distributed environments.
- Latency testing across locations – Enterprises can test latency scenarios ensuring seamless performance across multiple locations as well as cloud destinations.
The global DRIL network already supports a growing ecosystem of customers and partners, including AMD, Cisco, and Lenovo, focused on scaling AI and hybrid cloud architectures.
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About Digital Realty
Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation, from cloud and digital transformation to emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 55+ metros across 30+ countries on six continents. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.
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Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to the company's partnerships and expected benefits, expected completion dates, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, ServiceFabric®, customer demand and the company's strategy. For a list and description of risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
