The First Professional Conference on Data Centers in the Region Takes Place in Zagreb

Rarely does anyone think about what happens at the moment they send a message, initiate a search, or open a mobile payment application. Yet each of these actions passes through a data center – the physical infrastructure without which the digital economy simply would not function.

This infrastructure in Europe is developing at an unprecedented pace: according to estimates from the European Data Center Association (EUDCA), cumulative investments in European data centers from 2026 to 2031 could reach €176 billion. At the same time, the data center market at the European level is expected to grow to nearly $100 billion in annual value by 2030, with double-digit growth rates.

Europe is Seeking New Locations

What makes this moment particularly interesting for Croatia is the shift of capacity away from traditional European hubs – Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, known by the acronym FLAP-D. These markets are facing congestion in the energy grid, long connection timelines, and increasing regulatory constraints.

The result is that operators and investors are increasingly looking towards Central and Eastern Europe, with Nordic countries and Southern Europe already recording demand growth exceeding 100 percent.

Croatia is No Longer Just a Bystander

In this context, Croatia has serious advantages – according to data from the European Commission, Croatia is among the leading EU countries in adopting advanced digital technologies in businesses: 65.6 percent of Croatian companies use AI, cloud, or data analytics, significantly above the European average of 54.6 percent.

However, while Poland has built nearly 200 megawatts of capacity in just two years and clearly positioned itself as a regional hub, Croatia still needs to articulate its strategy – from energy infrastructure and regulatory framework to site selection criteria and investment models.

Croatian Data Center Summit

With the aim of initiating discussions on this topic, the Croatian Data Center Association (HRDCA) is organizing the Croatian Data Center Summit 2026 – the first major professional conference in Croatia dedicated to digital infrastructure, cloud technologies, and data centers. The conference will take place on May 12, 2026 at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb and for the first time brings together international experts, investors, policymakers, and companies from the entire data center ecosystem in one place.

The keynote at this summit will be delivered by Vladimir Prodanović from NVIDIA, who is globally responsible for data center readiness for large GPU implementations. Among the speakers are Sylvie Le Roy from datacenterHawk with an overview of the European market and Croatia’s positioning, Piotr Kowalski from the Polish Data Center Association (PLDCA) with a concrete example of a successful national strategy, and Ivana Gažić, CEO of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with insights into the investment potential of the sector.

Economic Competitiveness

Data centers have long ceased to be merely a technical issue. Today, they are an infrastructural prerequisite for economic competitiveness – countries that timely develop capacities and regulatory frameworks attract not only operators but also a broader ecosystem of technology companies, engineering services, and skilled jobs. For Croatia, which is investing nearly €635 million from European funds, just counting the program for the digital decade of the EU, in digital transformation, this is an opportunity that should certainly not be missed.

The Croatian Data Center Summit 2026 will take place on May 12 at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb. Early bird registrations are available until April 30. For more information, visit hrdca.com, and the registration form can be found at hrdca.com/prijava.