Two of the most significant barriers to investment in national industrial growth are, in our opinion, an inadequate data capacity and the excessive price of data centre infrastructure.

Fundamentally, data centres underpin high tech industrial growth through storing and processing the huge volumes of the critical data needed to run and expand any industry. Data collection, storage and processing tunes industrial production efficiency, enables predictive maintenance through remote monitoring, and feeds environmental compliance obligations. Industry also relies on huge data volumes for a deep understanding of its associated supply chains that keeps business running smoothly.

Data and digital technologies have already transformed UK industry over the last few years through the development and deployment of new products, services, and operating models. Now data is catalysing further transformation through a boom in AI, machine learning, IoT and robotics, washing across industries.

So overall, it is essential that data from different industries and sectors is securely stored, processed, and remains accessible. Clearly, data centres are essential to this country’s industrial growth.

But there are further commonalities and inter-dependencies between industry and its supporting data centres. Data centres themselves require fast inward investment and are transforming through vast new scales, intense compute densities, huge power and cooling loads, and sustainability. Data centres and industry both seek to invest in usable land, reliable large-scale utility supplies, winning technology, great digital connectivity, and sustainable environmental performance.

Without new “hyperscale” data centres being built quickly, the ongoing AI revolution may pass UK industry by, leaving British industry at a massive disadvantage versus global competition. The barriers of inadequate capacity and excessive price of data centre infrastructure are, in our opinion, worsened by slow and inconsistent application of planning laws, and ponderously slow electricity connection agreements.

Waiting for the government’s new industrial strategy to pick this issue up may not be timely, risks missing the point, and leaving a major gap in the feasibility of step changing industrial growth. The government’s forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework may also solve part of the problem. Certainly, the government is clear about ripping out bureaucracy that blocks investment.

Watch out for our upcoming posts that probe into the planning and utility barriers to the much needed development of data centres and possible solutions we’ve identified.

Exciting times!