-
-
Shaun, Mark and Keith
-
-
Our key takeaways from the Datacloud Global Congress 2024
Earlier this month, the DataCloud Global Congress 2024 took place in Cannes, bringing together global industry leaders in digital infrastructure.
This pivotal event served as a platform for sharing insights on advancing technologies and processes, the primary sector challenges, and the future of data centres, all while unpacking iMasons’ State of the Digital Infrastructure Industry Report 2024 and the 4Ps – People, Planet, Power and Perception.
Given the unprecedented scale and impact of global development plans in the data centre sector, Keith Fulton, Technical Director – Architecture, Mark Harris, Technical Director – Engineering, and Shaun Rowberry, Strategic Development Director – Design, share their key takeaways from the three day event.
Keith Fulton Mark Harris Shaun Rowberry
Understanding the scale of the challenge
Digital infrastructure is projected to double in the next 5 years and triple in the next 10 years, and the sector is currently consuming 2% of global energy production (Infrastructure Masons, 2024). To achieve this accelerated growth and deliver on our social and environmental responsibilities, we need to take a balanced and interdependent approach to address each of the 4Ps:
- People
We must work harder and more creatively to promote and inspire a diverse spectrum of people into our sector and value chain. The numbers we need to bring into the sector are enormous, so we need to start in schools and attract people from other sectors, including the military, where a significant number of people leave each year with valuable skill sets.
- Power
We need to develop data centre hubs, cities and communities where we are generating green energy. Developers and operators must now take more responsibility for generating green energy and not just consuming it. The Clean Energy Zone model being developed in the USA must become a global regional approach, forming the spine of the planet's digital infrastructure.
- Planet
We are not doing enough to reduce our environmental impact and must accelerate mitigation measures and put this at the forefront of our designs. We all must work harder to achieve net zero in our areas of influence, for example, the construction and design phases, maximising the use of recycled materials and the sourcing of materials produced using green energy of cement and steelwork, as well as optimising designs to reduce material volumes.
- Perception
When ChatGPT initially launched, it sparked both excitement and fear. Now, it has been normalised, and society and businesses are becoming comfortable and curious about the potential of AI. How society, local communities, and nations embrace and optimise the fourth industrial revolution depends on the work of the sector and beyond to move the perception, and this starts with becoming better at engaging and listening.
We're excited about the future of the data centres sector and our role in delivering leading designs and multi-disciplinary services to fast-track construction delivery.
iMasons’ State of the Digital Infrastructure Industry – Annual Report 2024
Explore further insights and download the report here.
Infrastructure Masons (2024). State of the Digital Infrastructure Industry – Annual Report 2024.
