Johannesburg, 26 May 2026
As artificial intelligence reshapes global connectivity demands, Atlantic Convergence 2026 will explore how the Atlantic region is emerging as a strategic corridor for the future digital economy.
Taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from September 29 to October 1, 2026, the conference will focus on the growing importance of the Atlantic as a connected digital region linking Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Unlike traditional infrastructure events that focus on a single technology or geography, Atlantic Convergence 2026 aims to create a neutral platform for collaboration around AI-ready infrastructure, interconnection, sovereignty, security and sustainability.
Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX, says the event comes at a pivotal moment for the global digital economy. “As AI adoption accelerates, demand is growing for secure, low-latency and resilient digital infrastructure capable of supporting real-time data movement between cloud platforms, hyperscale data centres, Internet Exchanges (IXs), enterprises and end users.
“The Atlantic region is no longer important purely because of geography,” organisers explain. “Its strategic value now lies in enabling trusted, high-performance interconnection between major digital economies across Europe, Africa and the Americas.”
The conference will examine how digital infrastructure priorities have evolved since the inaugural edition of Atlantic Convergence. Industry conversations have shifted from basic connectivity expansion toward AI-ready interconnection, cyber resilience, sustainable infrastructure, trusted data exchange and regulatory alignment.
Africa is expected to feature prominently in these discussions, with growing recognition that the continent is becoming far more than a connectivity endpoint. Increasing regional traffic exchange and expanding digital ecosystems are positioning African markets as active participants in global data economies.
According to Ivo, the next phase of Africa’s digital evolution will depend on the continent’s ability to move beyond simply hosting subsea cable landings and instead develop interconnected digital ecosystems that create and retain value locally.
This includes investment in carrier-neutral data centres, stronger IX ecosystems, terrestrial fibre expansion, cloud connectivity and AI infrastructure. Efficient local interconnection, he argues, is essential to ensuring that African data is processed, exchanged and monetised within the region rather than routed through distant international hubs.
Atlantic Convergence 2026 will also explore the structural barriers slowing pan-African digital infrastructure growth, including fragmented markets, uneven infrastructure development and continued dependence on external interconnection hubs for access to global content and cloud platforms.
At the same time, the event will highlight growing international investment in African digital infrastructure, particularly in subsea cables, fibre networks, cloud connectivity and data centre developments. Ivo Ivanov notes, however, that investment remains concentrated in larger coastal markets, while secondary cities and landlocked countries continue to face infrastructure gaps.
Subsea cable infrastructure is expected to be a major theme throughout the conference. While he describes cable landings as critical to Africa’s digital transformation ambitions, Ivo emphasises that connectivity alone is insufficient.
“Subsea cables enable access - interconnection creates value,” he states.
Discussions will therefore focus not only on expanding international capacity and route diversity, but also on strengthening terrestrial networks, IXs, cloud ecosystems and local aggregation points that enable efficient regional traffic exchange.
Cyber security and geopolitical risk are also expected to dominate conversations. As subsea cables, cloud platforms, IXs and data centres increasingly underpin economic activity, public services and AI ecosystems, they are being viewed as critical national infrastructure.
Atlantic Convergence 2026 will examine how governments and industry can improve resilience through geographic diversity, redundancy, security-by-design, recovery planning and cross-border collaboration.
Ivo says subsea cables are now widely regarded as strategic national assets, carrying the data flows that support economies, financial systems, governments and AI-enabled services. As a result, issues such as landing station security, route diversity, trusted interconnection frameworks and digital sovereignty are becoming central priorities across the Atlantic region.
By bringing together stakeholders from across multiple continents, Atlantic Convergence 2026 aims to help shape a more secure, sustainable and interconnected Atlantic digital future in the AI era.
To find out more and register for this event, click here.
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