Dr. Ayotunde Coker is the Chief Executive Officer of Open Access Data Centres.

Dr. Coker is one of the leading players in the development of the data centre industry in Africa and is Chairperson of influential industry group, the Africa Data Centres Association. Before joining OADC as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Coker led Rack Centre to becoming a household name in Nigeria and a leading brand in Africa, with global recognition and numerous prestigious international awards.

Throughout a distinguished international career as a technology and business leader, Dr. Coker has held senior positions in finance, energy, management consulting, and UK Government. He holds an MSc from Cranfield Institute of Technology and a PhD (Honoris Causa) from ESCAE University.

His achievements have been recognised by numerous awards, including the Distinguished Manufacturing Alumni Award (Cranfield Institute of Technology) 2020, and in the same year, he was recognised as one of the Global Top 30 Edge Computing Leaders by Data Economy Magazine.

In this episode of What's Next in Cloud, Dr. Coker talks about the launch of Open Access Data Centres' first data centre in South Africa and what this Durban facility provides. He also explains why he believes South Africa is the right location to invest in with this sort of infrastructure.