2026人工智能时代的数字基础设施：澳大利亚引领亚太地区的机遇研究报告

Australia’s opportunity to lead the Asia Pacific 2026 Key Insights By becoming a digital infrastructure hub, Australia stands to benefit from: 14,300 $134billion cumulative GDP lift additional jobs Full time equivalent, average additional jobs (2025 – 2050) Net present value (2025 – 2050), discounted at 7% p.a. over and above an organic growth scenario Providing the region with digitalservices and compute capacity couldadd an additional $14 billion to GDP, Australia has theopportunity to becomea regional digital infrastructure hubthat enables the needs of the Asia Pacific.Becoming a hub means developingonshore infrastructure to power theregion with at least 3.1 GW of high-qualitycompute, supported by subsea andterrestrial connectivity, and investing in theright enabling infrastructure. Investing in digital infrastructure deliversa suite ofbroader benefitsincludingmaking the nation more resilient andsecure, fortifying Australia’s cybersecurity, supporting decarbonisation,elevating Australia’s global reputation asa knowledge economy and creating policysovereignty. Australia has the right foundations with access to available land, renewableenergy, resources and workforce tosecure the investment needed. Failureto capitalise on these advantages couldsee Australia miss out on a significanteconomic opportunity. with output expected to peak immediatelyafter construction of digital infrastructure,and falling over time as Australia’s growingdigital ecosystem generates greater localdemand for compute. A digital infrastructure hub means a strongdigital ecosystem with higher productivitygrowth across the economy. Thisopportunity is worth up to$134 billion inadditional GDP over 25 years,and 14,300average additional jobs (peaking at 19,100jobs in 2030). These benefits will occurover and abovethe benefits Australia isexpected to realise from general AI adoptionwithout significant infrastructure build out. Australia hasdefined its ambitiontobecome a digital infrastructure hub. Itshould act now to put in placeregulationsthat supportits development and securethe private sectorinvestment requiredto achieve that vision. Significant digital infrastructure cancatalyse renewable energy investmentthrough data centres that act as ‘anchortenants’ with commitments to underpinthe development of additional cleanenergy generation, assets that are crucialfor the energy transition. Timing is critical. The investmentdecisions are being made now.Oncebuilt, countries with the right digitalinfrastructure will capture an outsizedshare of the economic benefits of thenext technologicalwave for at leastfifteen years. Executive summary Artificial intelligence (AI) is the technological breakthrough ofa generation, and its promise of economic returns is drivingsignificant global investment.In the Asia Pacific, investment inAI will exceed $165 billion* by 2028.1 Becoming a digital infrastructure hub could growAustralia’s economy, lifting productivity in newand established industries Early movers won’t just drive the digitalinfrastructure boom – they’ll capture an outsizedshare of the returns for at least fifteen years Projections of AI demand in the Asia Pacific range from 55GW2to 92GW3of compute capacity by 2030. While the precise figureis unknowable, even the most conservative estimates suggestthatthe majority of enabling infrastructure is yet to bebuilt. This creates a major opening for countries that movewithin the next two years, successfully establishing themselvesas market leaders. Australia’s digital infrastructure is already projected to growat 16% p.a.,5reaching 3.3GW of data centre capacity by 2030.Australia has an opportunity to expand its digitalinfrastructure beyond this baseline, by adding a further3.1 GW of AI-ready compute that will bring concentrationbenefits. With decisive action, this expansion is technically andeconomically feasible by 2030. This boom in spending is accompanied by physical investmentsin digital infrastructure – the data centres, subsea and terrestrialcables and utilities that will enable access to AI tools and servicesfor billions of people. This infrastructure is a critical opportunity that Australiacan grasp to secure its long-term place as an AI leader inthe Asia Pacific, bringing economic benefits that go beyondAI adoption alone.The chance to build a digital ecosystemspanning the entire value chain presents an economic upsidewhich adds to the dividend already expected from the use of AI.However, this infrastructure opportunity cannot be achievedwithout a vision, and ultimately a plan, to seize it. By constructing and hosting digital infrastructure, Australiacan support unique, high-value activities like AI research anddevelopment, developing advanced enterprise and consumerapplications, localising regional supply chains and deployinglocation-dependent edge computing. Markets home to theseactivities will be the ones that attract global talent, anchorventure capital, shape internatio