THE EDGE
While it can be difficult to move physical operations such as people and factories , migrating IT operations to sites that have sustainable infrastructures in place is a much more viable option to counter these rising costs .
I hope that this is the much-needed catalyst to drive more sustainable data and IT practices across global business and government today . Sustainability needs to be prioritised by both our governments and businesses – unfortunately the growing threat of climate change hasn ’ t been enough to make lasting changes , but the cost savings and operational efficiencies speak for themselves .
What role does the Nordic region play in helping businesses across the UK and Europe to curb these rising prices ?
The Nordics have the necessary renewable infrastructures , colder climates , government-backed sustainability initiatives , a drive for innovation and a surplus in talented workforce . These countries already have the infrastructures in place to support access to renewable energy , not to mention they are ideally located with great connectivity to support the growth in digitalisation .
While we will undoubtedly see many businesses migrate their IT operations to these regions , there is also a massive opportunity for Nordic countries to support sustainability initiatives for regions across the UK and Europe , and to provide connectivity and direct data ‘ pipe ’ access to the Nordics for these countries .
What key data centre initiatives do you see as sustainably crucial for the next decade ?
We design our data centres from the ground up so that we can offer the best energy efficiency , but at the same time use the least amount of equipment to ensure the safe operation of the data centre and thus lower the carbon footprint of the data centre . We also choose to use sustainable building materials across our sites to further help reduce our overall carbon footprint .
Furthermore , our service offerings can be tailored to include the most cost- effective solution based on volume and computing power needs of individual customers . Our modular approach and hybrid data halls mean we can help our clients cater to evolving market changes and customer needs whether that be for high , low density , colocation services or to fit specific cooling requirements . This is becoming increasingly paramount for businesses today from both a cost efficiency and environmental impact point of view .
In addition , perhaps one of the most important considerations for the next decade will be centred on data centres ’ ability to innovate . For us , with sustainability sitting right at our core , we have been working hard to innovate the way in which our energy outputs are reused . Our newest site in Stockholm operates on 100 % renewable energy and also uses efficient heat recovery for both air-cooled and liquid-cooled IT infrastructures . This allows all the residual heat from the data centre to be recycled through Stockholm Exergi , Stockholm ’ s energy company , where the excess heat generated from the new data centre can then heat up to 20,000 apartments . �
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