Global Scans · Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

• [New] High demand for AI-enabled solutions, combined with underdeveloped domestic infrastructure and governance, creates opportunities for U.S. companies to provide cloud services, secure data platforms, MLOps frameworks, and applied AI solutions. itaadmin
• [New] Reflecting the scale of future expansion, Abu Dhabi has announced a Dh55 billion Public-Private Partnership programme to finance 24 new infrastructure projects during 2026 and 2027, making it one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the Gulf region. Gulf News: Latest UAE news, Dubai news, Business, trave
• [New] Google's partnership with Kairos Power targets 500 MW of SMR capacity by 2035, while Amazon's US$ 500 million investment aims to develop 5 GW of SMR generation by 2039, positioning SMRs as a sustainable power backbone for AI infrastructure. Persistence Market Research
• [New] AllianceBernstein expects a more uneven credit landscape in 2026, with dispersion rising as AI infrastructure spending reshapes winners and losers. The Idea Farm
• [New] The most resilient infrastructure players are now designing for AI-era threats, not just yesterday's attacks. News, Events, Advertising Options
• [New] IBM is investing in new tools because critical infrastructure now has to defend against both old threats and AI-shaped future ones. News, Events, Advertising Options
• [New] Australian Neocloud SharonAI and VAST Data announced an expanded strategic partnership under which Sharon AI will deploy 600 PB of the VAST AI Operating System across its AI cloud infrastructure. blocksandfiles
• [New] From the Dubai Land Department putting title deeds on blockchain and launching real estate tokenization from as little as AED 2,000, to the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan reshaping where value will grow, innovation is becoming a real driver of long-term appreciation. RHK Properties
• [New] With the world becoming increasingly interconnected, the transportation logistics industry faces both immense opportunities and unprecedented challenges. Ryder Website
• [New] Traditional oil & gas companies are using their natural gas resources and their expertise building infrastructure to capitalize on new business opportunities and build facilities to serve new markets in the Southeastern and Southwestern U.S. where data center development is underway. JD Supra
• [New] Pinterest committed $4 billion to Amazon Web Services through 2031, its largest-ever infrastructure deal, to power the AI models behind 80 billion monthly searches where roughly half of all search activity is commercial. TIKR.com
• [New] In 2026, enterprises increasingly adopted software platforms that provide monitoring, governance, and security controls for AI agents to mitigate risks associated with autonomous systems accessing critical IT infrastructure and business applications. MarkNtel Advisors
• [New] China is expected to lead early deployment due to coordinated infrastructure and state-backed investment, while other regions will face slower progress due to regulatory fragmentation and limited vertiport buildout. AVweb
• [New] Global growth in 2026 will remain sluggish overall, but a surge in AI-related investment - especially in data centers, chips, and digital infrastructure - will provide a significant boost that helps offset weakness elsewhere. The Idea Farm
• [New] The FCA's report anticipates that 'AI-fication' of human thought, labour and digital infrastructure will create a future in which simulated data becomes indistinguishable from real data, and where a single human prompt could orchestrate a global network of synthetic scammers. Mondaq
• [New] Capital rotation toward infrastructure-oriented sectors is expected to remain a defining theme during the second half of 2026. PwC
• [New] Goldman Sachs estimates cumulative AI capital expenditure from 2026 to 2031 will reach approximately $7.6 trillion across compute, data centers, and power infrastructure, as cited by Anthropic president Daniela Amodei at Bloomberg Tech. Build Fast with AI
• [New] $55 Billion AI Infrastructure Expansion: Alibaba plans to invest $55 billion in AI data centers and cloud infrastructure between FY2026 and FY2028. Bingx Exchange
• [New] The memory supercycle is expected to continue through at least 2028 based on current capacity allocations and projections for AI infrastructure demand. gHacks
• [New] CCS Insight has not specified when memory prices might return to typical levels seen in consumer devices, but ongoing growth in AI infrastructure suggests that relief in prices is unlikely in the near term. gHacks

Last updated: 28 June 2026