EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
JOSH JOSHI , EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN , ATLASEDGE
From a data centre perspective , the European market – which can be segmented into colocation , hyperscale and Edge facilities – will continue to grow at pace . While hyperscale providers such as Alphabet , AWS and Microsoft Azure have captured over three-quarters of the US cloud market last year , we foresee some of the strongest growth coming from the Edge segment . Edge , which involves moving data processing closer to the end-user , is answering greater demand from customers for lower latency , minimised bandwidth costs and alignment with growing demand for data sovereignty . Especially with the intense demand for compute power fuelled by the Generative AI boom , a new generation of agile players are stepping up to the task , answering the needs of businesses in this constantly evolving tech sector .
We ’ re also going to see a continued pivot towards Tier 2 and 3 locations . Whereas the industry has previously focused on major European cities ( for example , Frankfurt , London , Amsterdam , Paris , Dublin ) – we can expect to see significant investment into cities like Manchester and Hamburg , where there is surging demand for compute power closer to the end-user . There is a clear move for businesses to get closer to their customers and offer a more localised solution through distributed digital infrastructure .
Considering the tech sector more broadly , ESG concerns will continue to grow in importance , particularly in the wake of a summer of record temperatures linked to climate change . We ’ re seeing it in our own industry , which has traditionally ( and rightly ) been scrutinised for its environmental impact but has made huge strides in recent years .
Initiatives such as the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact – which involves data centre providers agreeing to a self-regulatory initiative to make data centres in Europe climate neutral by 2030 – are enabling knowledge sharing and increasing accountability across the industry . We ’ re also going to see the continued emergence of financings linked to sustainability commitments , as well as continued technological innovation by individual companies . Of particular focus in the data centre industry are advances in battery storage so that data centres can start to feed power back to the grid , and forward-thinking cooling technologies to ensure thar facilities use far less power . What ’ s more , data centres are finding ways to recycle residual heat and redistribute it within surrounding communities , providing heating for schools , homes and businesses .
With the intense demand for compute power fuelled by the Generative AI boom , a new generation of agile players are stepping up .
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