BCS Breakfast Club asks: How can we make the industry more attractive?

Horrendous, ugly, evil, environmentally damaging and power thirsty – these were just some the words that participants of the latest BCS Breakfast Club had heard or read to describe the datacentre industry. They formed the basis of the discussions, co-hosted by Anna Rantala, Marketing Manager at BCS and Richard Irwin, co-founder at GeN+1, which addressed the perceived bad reputation of the industry and what could and should be done.

MISINFORMATION & FRUSTRATION

There was a palpable frustration within the group that people outside the industry were unable to understand its positives. It was felt that whilst data centres can be a catalyst for regeneration, renewed infrastructure, technical advances and progression to green energy, the focus is rarely on these aspects and more often on the alleged ‘damaging’ overuse of vital resources.

Sustainability was identified as one of the key concerns despite the huge amount of work and progress in this area.  Examples of projects that are net positive or where the design has included district heating for thousands of homes are rarely discussed and nor are the huge numbers of well-paid jobs that are created across a wide range of disciplines from marketing and finance to electricians and architects. Instead, recent ‘click bait’ headlines in the national media are full of claims about ‘vampire data centres’ and their use of water and power preventing other vital infrastructure in the media.

MISCONCEPTION & EDUCATION

The group discussed that at the heart of this there is a basic lack of understanding about the important role of data centres, and this leads to misconceptions and negativity.

It was agreed that there is both a need and a big opportunity to educate a range of important audiences including local communities, councils, politicians and the general public. One of the participants discussed how they were working closely with the education sector helping to amend the syllabus to cover the digital infrastructure and there were other community initiatives designed to make a difference at grass roots level.

In a lighter moment Richard Irwin, founder at GeN+1, showcased a street interview they had undertaken on TikTok with a member of the public saying that she uses the cloud because ‘I don’t like data centres.’

NARRATE & RELATE

The group went on to discuss how to change the narrative and create a clear link between the growth of the industry and the progress of the digital world and the societal benefits of initiatives like AI will bring, particularly in key areas such as healthcare and education. Alongside this, is the message that data centres are also facilitators driven by consumer need and expectations for things like fast, seamless media streaming, gaming and social media. There is a failure by people to relate their needs and desires to the data centre industry.

The fact that the sector has been traditionally very secretive and even now there is a reticence to talk about projects was identified as an issue alongside the confusing jargon and stats that are regularly used. There is an understandable defensiveness within the industry, but the group felt it was important that this changed and that owning the bad whilst promoting the good was the right approach.

CONCLUSION

The session concluded with an agreement of the challenges of repairing the misconceptions around data centres but the vital importance of doing so.