Equinix Ireland’s Peter Lantry discusses the tech advancements made possible by data centres, the challenges around data sovereignty and the importance of keeping things sustainable ‘from the beginning’.
Data centres have grown to become extremely important for businesses of all sizes – and that was even before the rise of generative AI.
With the world becoming more digitalised every day, more private and public sectors are reliant on the vast amount of data being stored on these centres. These centres are proving vital for emerging technology such as generative AI and the ability to connect vast amounts of data together can have huge benefits in areas such as medical research.
But as the demand for data storage grows, so too does the demand for energy. The recent AI boom has only added to this – Google’s 2023 emissions were nearly 50pc higher than 2019 levels, which it largely attributed to data centre demand to support the rapid advancement of AI.
It can be difficult to balance the push for digitalisation and tech progress with the need for sustainability with the climate crisis bearing down. Add in developing regulation, cybersecurity and the need to upgrade infrastructure and there are a lot of factors for IT teams to consider right now.
To delve further into the current data centre trends, we spoke to Peter Lantry, MD of Equinix Ireland. He believes that data centres have become so important that the global economy “can’t operate” unless they continue to increase connectivity between businesses and geographies.
“Advancements in research and technology such as AI and quantum are made possible through data centres – and I think this will vastly speed up developments in drug discovery, environmental mapping and other areas that will benefit all of society because we are able to connect a richer array of different organisations than ever before in human history,” Lantry said.
“Anything from emergency services to how we communicate with each other, to banking, to any kind of exchange… all of that is happening in a digital format and that is taking place within a data centre.”
The big data challenges
Both governments and businesses around the world are focusing on digitalisation these days – the EU recently pushed its member states to pursue its digitalisation goals more ambitiously.
But there is also evolving regulation around data, which can present a challenge for companies operating in multiple regions around the world. Lantry said IT teams are facing challenges around “data sovereignty”.
“There’s laws now that are in place requiring companies to make sure any information, any personal information or data that’s produced relating to a country is kept in that country and not exported or stored elsewhere where that data is less secure,” he said.
Lantry said this is creating a need for companies to have a presence in the countries that they operate and to ensure that any data that’s produced in a country is stored there too. In an Equinix survey last year, 79pc of IT decision-makers globally said their expansion plans would be impacted by strict data sovereignty laws.
“So we are able to support those companies because we’re present in all of the major metros in the world,” Lantry said. “We’re able to guarantee that the data that they produce and store is stored in a particular location in an Equinix data centre.”
Other players in the data centre sector have been taking steps around data sovereignty. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed plans to invest €7.8bn in Germany over the next 16 years, as part of its European Sovereign Cloud initiative.
Factoring in sustainability
Lantry said Equinix has seen a massive increase in data growth “across all industries” due to the rise in AI technology. With this demand in mind, he said a key question for data centre operators is “how do we ensure that what we’re doing is sustainable from the beginning”? Lantry believes this is becoming a key issue that the sector is considering.
“For instance, Equinix had over 95pc renewable energy coverage for its global portfolio in 2021 and is committed to becoming climate-neutral across all global operations by 2030,” Lantry said. “This trend implies a sector-wide shift towards sustainable practices, with emphasis on energy efficiency and minimising environmental impact.”
Lantry also argues that digitalisation can be a pathway to sustainability, rather than a barrier to it, as businesses “adopting digital-first strategies” can help achieve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
“By integrating these practices, IT leaders can ensure that their digital transformation initiatives align with their sustainability goals,” he said.
When Google revealed its significant rise in emissions earlier this year, it described its own climate neutral goals as “extremely ambitious” and said that it “won’t be easy”.
But the tech giant also claimed that technology like AI can play a “critical enabling role” in helping the world to reach a “low-carbon future” by aiding in various environmental tasks. Lantry had a similar view when it comes to the potential benefits of the broader data centre sector.
“We’re innovating in this space all the time and digitalisation actually is going to lend itself and lead to a far more decarbonised and sustainable economy and environment within which we can work,” he said.
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