Skip to main content

2024 DICE Midwest

The DICE event series explores key opportunities, challenges, and innovations for the next generation of digital infrastructure in regional markets.

Kemal Hawa will moderate keynote panel, "The State of the Midwest Data Center Market: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges in Chicago and Surrounding Midwest Markets" on Thursday, Sept. 19 from 8:30 a.m.-9:10 a.m. CT. Chicago is seeing unprecedented data center demand, with total absorption in 2023 doubling 2022 and continuing to see strong absorption in 2024. Vacancy rates continue to fall due to large hyperscale deals in the market. This panel will discuss the trends to date for 2024, how this year will compare to the prior, where are we seeing constraints, and which submarkets have the opportunity to support more development.

Melissa Vandewater will speak on panel, "Site Selection, Permitting and Fiber Build-Outs: Navigating the Early Phases of Development and Where to Build Next" on Thursday, Sept. 19 from 10:30 a.m.-11:10 a.m. CT.  With demand for data centers expected to continue growing, site selection and permitting is increasingly top-of-mind for developers, and the way deals are getting done is not the same as it used to be. This panel will focus on how discussions with developers and city officials changing given industry growth, and how the permitting process and lease negotiations changing.