Dubai · Data center infrastructure
Abdelilah Sidqui
Electrical engineer, Managing Partner of the data center engineering consultancy UBIK, and Board Director of African Digital Infrastructure Investments.
More than twenty years in critical infrastructure and technology programmes across the Middle East and Africa. I spent eleven of them at EMC and then Dell Technologies in Dubai, and co-founded UBIK in 2019. I work in Arabic, French and English.
Managing Partner, UBIK
UBIK is independent and works for owners, developers, operators, investors and contractors, from feasibility to operational readiness. I lead its advisory and engineering design work.
ubik.aeBoard Director, ADII
African Digital Infrastructure Investments, which invests in data centers, cloud and AI infrastructure across Africa.
adii.africaEMC, then Dell Technologies
I ran data center, cloud migration and IT transformation programmes for government and enterprise clients across the Middle East and Africa. I also led the region’s advanced software and data protection practice.
Notes
Short pieces on how data centers are planned, designed and delivered, drawn from my work in the Middle East and Africa.
All notesA Tier III design certificate is not a Tier III facility
Uptime Institute certifies the design, the constructed facility and its operation separately, and an investor should ask which one an announcement means.
In Africa, a data center brief starts with the utility, not the IT load
Phasing follows the capacity the utility commits to in writing, and generator autonomy and fuel storage follow its outage record.
In the Gulf, cooling an AI hall trades power against water
Direct liquid cooling runs on warmer water and cuts chiller hours, but the summer peak still needs compressors or evaporation.
Talks
Panels and talks on how data centers are powered, cooled and delivered in the Middle East and Africa. Boardroom sessions are private and are not listed.
All talksAI at scale: How MENA’s digital transformation is reshaping power, cooling, construction and design
Panel, DCD Connect MENA, Dubai
Contact
abdelilah@sidqui.comEmail me about board and advisory roles, speaking invitations, press questions or a data center project. LinkedIn is for shorter messages.