How can the Data Centre sector improve its reputation?

It’s not often you hear an F Bomb during a built environment panel discussion, let alone two in one night. But that was a great indicator of how lively and engaging the discussion was last month at the BE News Spotlight on Data Centres event, hosted by SEC Newgate UK.

The event kicked off with a keynote speech from Siobhan Nagle, Digital Infrastructure managing director, followed by a panel expertly chaired by BE News editor Liz Hamson. The panel delved into the enormous opportunities and numerous challenges facing the sector, which the government has placed at the heart of its growth agenda,

The opportunity is clear: in the digital age, the demand for data storage and processing power is escalating rapidly. The UK, with its burgeoning digital economy, is experiencing an acute need for new data centres to support this growth. From cloud computing and artificial intelligence to the Internet of Things, the country’s technological advancements are driving the necessity for robust and scalable data infrastructure. Ensuring the seamless operation of businesses, government services, and everyday digital interactions hinges on the development of these new data centres.

However, as the panel discussion highlighted, there are many obstacles to delivering new data centres, from planning and regulatory hurdles to constraints in the construction supply chain, as well as a limited number of suitable sites and a lack of capacity in the power grid.

The sector is also facing issues around its image and reputation – a key barrier to winning support for data centre projects at a local level. Just this week, the Guardian published a special report on how resource-intensive data centres are using vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas. Closer to home, there are growing concerns around how much power data centres use as well as their carbon footprint – not to mention that they are visually unappealing neighbours.

To shift these perceptions, the sector needs to tell better stories about its positive impact. There is a huge opportunity here: there are some great examples of the positive impact data centre projects can have on communities, such as using waste heat to warm public swimming pools or other local facilities, or to power district heating schemes.

However, the sector is notoriously reticent to draw attention to itself, a consequence of the publicity-shy nature of Big Tech. Many people working in the sector can’t even talk to each other about who they are working for and where, let alone tell positive stories through the media.

But if the sector is going to tackle its poor reputation, this will need to change. Helping the data centre sector tell better stories about itself is something SEC Newgate has considerable experience with, having provided communications and community engagement support to some of the largest data centre projects in the UK. From supporting site acquisitions, through to negotiating planning and providing communications through construction, we can help at every stage of a project.

Through that work, we have seen time and time again how more proactive communication, through better storytelling and community engagement, can help improve the sector's reputation and gain critical local support for projects – a prerequisite for delivering the next generation of data centres that the country so desperately needs.