PUBLISHED ONSeptember 08, 2026 7:00 AMBYKhoo Yi-HangA new Bill was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 8) to step up security and sustainability of data centres and cloud services in Singapore.
The Digital Infrastructure Bill, which had its first reading on Tuesday, was developed by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) in collaboration with industry stakeholders.
MDDI and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) conducted a public consultation on the draft Bill from between July 1 and 22 this year, and received 25 responses from data centre operators, cloud service providers and industry associations.
Respondents shared that they were supportive of the Bill's policy objectives and also provided feedback on the how the Bill's licenses can be implemented.
Under the Bill, two new licensing regimes would be established to strengthen the security and resilience of major cloud services and data centres (DC), as well as the environmental sustainability of DC operations in Singapore.
The ministry said that doing so will fortify the foundation of Singapore's digital economy and provide regulatory clarity for infrastructure investment in Singapore.
To achieve this, the Bill sets out two frameworks.
The first is a licensing regime for major co-location DCs — where businesses share a space to hold their DCs — and cloud DCs with a critical IT load of at least 10 megawatts (MW).
A critical IT load refers to the power that DCs utilise in operation.
Major cloud service providers (CSP) that generate at least $100 million in average annual revenue from users in Singapore over three preceding years are also included in this regime.
Under the Bill, cybersecurity requirements are expected of these DCs and CSPs, and subsequent risk management measures, business continuity and disaster recovery plans must be reported to IMDA along with any disruptions that may occur.
Next, DCs with a critical IT load of at least 3MW will be licensed and be required to meet energy-efficiency requirements.
Both new and existing DCs will need to adhere to these requirements and may further need to improve their IT equipment or water efficiency based on MDDI's consultation with the industry.
The Bill also allows green energy commitments to be enforced as licence conditions, keeping in mind that Singapore's DC capacity is supported by scarce natural resources like land and power, MDDI stated, adding that this comes in exchange for being awarded new DC capacity.
"Altogether, the Bill will strengthen the foundations on which Singapore's digital economy, and our AI ambitions, will be built," MDDI said.
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