DCD>Connect | Southern Europe 2026
About the Event
DCD>Connect | Southern Europe is DCD's annual conference for Iberia and the broader Southern European data center market, now in its 18th edition. The 2026 event runs May 6-7, 2026 at the Palacio Municipal at IFEMA Madrid (new venue after prior editions at Eurostars Madrid Tower) and convenes 2,500+ professionals, 180+ international speakers, and approximately 200 partner companies. DCD is reportedly considering rebranding the series to "DCD>Connect Southwest Europe."
Guest Country and Region. 2026 features Portugal as guest country, highlighting the Sines and Lisbon subsea hubs, and Catalonia as guest region, positioning Barcelona as a Mediterranean interconnection node.
Format. Three simultaneous content stages plus two specialized forums. The AI Impact Forum focuses on AI-driven data center planning and optimization. The ESG Forum covers sustainability, energy, and efficiency. The co-located DCD>Investment Forum (Southern Europe) connects investment funds and financial teams with cloud executives. A new DCD>Compute | Madrid track runs in parallel for IT infrastructure manufacturers.
Featured Speakers (confirmed and carry-over). José Luis Friebel, Managing Director International and Chief Growth Officer, DCD. Emilio Díaz, President, SpainDC. Jorge Lis, Global Segment Leader Data Centers, ABB. Hervé Hellez, Secure Power Europe and France Strategy Leader, Schneider Electric. Sheriff Rizkalla, President, IDA (Italian Data Center Association). Expected continued presence from major investors and operators including AWS (€15.7B Aragón investment), Microsoft (€10B), Blackstone, Azora, and Sanca.
Sponsors and Partners. Schneider Electric (Main Partner). CommScope. Munters (Booth 8, sponsoring panel "Cooling the Next Generation Data Center: Where Air and Liquid Systems Meet"). Vaisala (Booth 28, environmental monitoring). The Wave Data Centers. SpainDC (host association). Dutch Data Center Association. TIA. Fedit (Spanish Federation of Technology Centres). Portman Partners. 2025 exhibitors expected to return include Vertiv, ABB, Iron Mountain, Corning, RDT Ingenieros, and VID FIREKILL.
Networking. VIP dinners, wine tastings, live shows, curated one-on-one private meetings, exclusive cocktail receptions, and dedicated executive networking spaces.
Logistics. Venue: Palacio Municipal, IFEMA Madrid, Avenida de la Capital de España 7, 28042 Madrid, Spain. Accessible via Metro Line 8 (Feria de Madrid), buses 73, 112, 122, and 828. TIA partner codes offer complimentary end-user passes and 20% supplier discounts; Munters offers a "munters-guest" code. Organized by Data Centre Dynamics Ltd.