Data Dilemmas: Data centers, taking the bitter with the sweet

Program: Online event | Language: English

15.50: Digital walk-in
16.00 – 16.05: Introduction by Amsterdam Smart City & Datalab
16.05 – 16.10: Introduction to challenge
16.10 – 17.00: Presentations + Q&A
17.00 – 17.20: Plenary discussion and wrap-up

Speakers:

• Wout Rensink (Province of Noord-Holland)
• Thomas Moran (techUK)
• Daan Terpstra (SDI Alliance)

The digitization of our society produces an exponentially increasing amount of data, which causes an increased need for data centers and connectivity. In 2030, there is expected to see a twenty-fold increase in data traffic, consuming 5% of worldwide electricity at that point. A recent report in the Netherlands has shown quite some hesitance on whether or not the foreseen rise in data centers in The Netherlands is the right way to go. Some say data centers take up precious space, require quite some of our (green) energy and (drinking) water, and they would not create much direct employment either. The report showed that the connectivity and availability of data centers in The Netherlands at this moment would suffice for the Dutch market, as it only uses about a third of its capacity.
Critics were quick to respond and argued the economic value of accommodating data centers for big data-driven industries. Not only the economic value of high-connectivity data centers are worth mentioning, but also the security and ownership of our (European) data is a factor worth mentioning. While the demand for connectivity and data use is rising, it is necessary to prepare for decision-making that takes these aspects into account.
In this session of Data Dilemmas, we invite you to talk about the costs and benefits of accommodating data centers, the complexity of weighing these aspects, and how future policies could manage these.

About the Data Dilemmas series
Data Dilemmas is a collaboration between Amsterdam Smart City and the City of Amsterdam’s Datalab. Amsterdam Smart City likes to explore with you which decisions are needed for responsible use of data.

The increasing need for data centers shows the speed at which the digitalization of our environment is growing, as the possibilities of using data and new technologies to address big transitional challenges are endless. We use the data to make cities safer, cleaner and more accessible. But do we really need the data in all cases? What happens to all the data that is collected? Which choices did people make and why? What dilemmas do we face? These questions are important for everyone; for governments, knowledge institutions, residents and companies.