What stands in the way of the UK’s data centre potential?

Buildings of this kind are not a new phenomenon. If the early computer rooms of the 60s and 70s typified the third industrial revolution, or information age, the latest wave of cutting-edge units stuffed with smart tech is surely the underpinning of the fourth, or, as it’s more widely termed, Industry 4.0.

Setting aside the ongoing moral debate over its worth and potential impact, AI and its rise requires vast processing power that needs physical storage. This isn’t just so that – unlike this blog – more creative work can be produced by ChatGPT. It’s because AI’s power can be harnessed to improve the efficiency and productivity of global economies, and support better healthcare, transport delivery and other vital services.

So important is their perceived role that data centres have now been classified by the UK government as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). They now join essential projects in the energy and water sectors in being guaranteed government support in the recovery of crises.

By committing to the construction and protection of data centres, the UK has a real opportunity to establish itself as a global leader in new technologies and future innovation. But here’s the problem: the benefits and strategic importance of data centres are not yet widely understood, nor is there typically a central and coherent message that the communities who’ll host these vast buildings can understand and even support.

So what’s the fix?

Firstly, concerns can be met with meaningful solutions. In addition to their visual impact, the main local objections over data centres already proposed in the UK (including Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Slough), are the impacts that they could have on water and energy supply to the area, alongside the high carbon emissions they’ll potentially generate.

In some geographies there are ways to alleviate these concerns, including the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar to power the centres and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. It’s even been suggested that excess heat produced by these facilities could provide a source of heat for cities if properly located. In order to keep servers cool, data centres do rely heavily on water if using traditional AC. However, through using modern liquid cooling systems, they can be constructed without this expected impact on local water supply.

Secondly, all stakeholders in UK data centre expansion including the government, developers and the wider construction sector, must align over a central message as to why these buildings will be so vital to public services, national security, and prosperity and growth.

A recent report from TechUK that set out these benefits in greater detail, as well as highlighting the positive impact for the UK in terms of growth and tax revenue should the sector reach its potential.

This data-driven insight should be at the forefront of the argument over the need for these buildings. There also needs to be, as with other forms of infrastructure, a clear and meaningful message over social value and outcomes. For example, how will the construction and running of data centres boost jobs and skills, and support local regeneration by attracting further investment to create thriving new centres of innovation?

While individual developers will compete for land, power connections and, ultimately, customers, it’s in the interest of the whole sector to unite over a central raison d'être, and invest in supporting public understanding of this new form of critical infrastructure.