PROJECT ROUND-UP

GERMANY FRANCE

Arcadis says its recently acquired subsidiary KUA has secured four significant data center project wins in Germany – underscoring the company’ s expanding presence in one of Europe’ s fastestgrowing digital infrastructure markets.

The combined value of the wins is EUR € 8 million, with Arcadis and KUA providing core services covering technical due diligence, zoning and permitting, tender preparation and construction monitoring for new hyperscale and colocation developments.

A new national audit has found 95 % of French municipal websites fall short.

The Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs( DINUM), the Déclic network, the national federation of Public Digital Service Operators( OPSN) and the Association of Developers and Users of Free Software for Public Authorities( ADULLACT) have released the second edition of their nationwide map charting the accessibility of municipal websites across France.

Spanning Frankfurt and Berlin, the new projects reflect the continued momentum in Germany’ s digital corridor as investors and operators accelerate plans for additional capacity across Europe.

The services being provided include:

This new edition marks a major expansion. While the first mapping, published in July 2025 assessed 6,568 municipal sites, the updated analysis now covers 23,000 websites – with the project offering one of the most comprehensive snapshots to date of digital accessibility at the local level.

• Technical Due Diligence: De-risking investment decisions by analysing site constraints, utilities, regulatory pathways, and power availability.

• Zoning and permitting: Preparing compliant design and documentation to streamline approvals.

• Permit application design: Developing early-stage design packages aligned with local requirements.

• Tender preparation: Assembling contractor procurement and tender documentation to support efficient project mobilization.

• Construction monitoring: Providing ongoing oversight during construction to track progress, verify quality and ensure compliance.

Alan Brookes, CEO, Arcadis, said:“ These wins reflect the strength of our strategy in Europe and the value created by combining KUA’ s specialist data center capabilities in architecture, design, engineering, and planning with Arcadis’ global expertise in site selection, program and cost management, and sustainability advisory.

“ With the total data centre market estimated at around 300 billion euros – and design and engineering firms typically capturing 10 to 15 % – this represents a multi-billion-euro opportunity for us and highlights the buoyancy of the sector and the bespoke solutions we can offer. As demand accelerates, clients need partners who can navigate complexity and deliver at speed. By uniting cutting-edge design, due diligence, and local insight, we are well positioned to shape the next generation of smarter, greener and more efficient data centers.”

The study uses the same transparent and open methodology as the initial edition, drawing on DINUM’ s dataset of more than 37,000 public-sector domain names.

Each website’ s homepage was tested using the open-source accessibility checker Asqatasun, which applies 117 criteria from the RGAA( General Accessibility Improvement Framework), roughly one-third of the full standard.

Municipalities then received an indicative rating from A( compliant) to F( non-compliant), allowing disparities to be viewed across regions.

The findings are stark. According to the audit, 95 % of websites scored between D and F and more than 60 % – over 14,000 municipalities – received the lowest rating of F.

DINUM, Déclic and ADULLACT stress that the initiative is not intended to shame local authorities but to highlight systemic shortcomings with digital accessibility – a legal requirement and a prerequisite for equal access to public services.

The interactive map is publicly available and designed to evolve. Municipalities can report updates or corrections through an online form, enabling the dataset to reflect improvements as they occur. Regular updates will follow, with the aim of tracking progress and promoting best practices.

By making the national landscape visible, the partners hope to support municipalities as they work toward compliance.

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