EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW ARE DATA CENTRE PROVIDERS OFFERING A SOLUTION TO THE WIDENING SKILLS GAP ?
ao Data , the specialist
K developer and operator of high-performance data centres for enterprise , cloud , HPC and AI , has launched the Kao Academy – an industry-first science , technology , engineering and maths ( STEM ) resource , designed to engage primary and early secondary school-aged children with the purpose and role of a data centre .
Created in collaboration with Cambridge Science Centre , an independent , educational charity , the Kao Academy will help teach children aged 7 – 11 about the role of a data centre , how they ’ re designed , engineered and constructed , and explain both their importance and relevance to our everyday lives .
Delivered via an interactive website , the Kao Academy provides users with several dedicated resources , including a live ‘ datacrunching ’ game , a downloadable ‘ how-to ’ pack which children can download to build their own data centre , as well as educational videos on how Kao Data ’ s award-winning KLON-1 facility in Harlow was constructed . Participants can also download additional e-learning resources to learn and play , and take part in a competition to get creative and design their own data centre , potentially winning £ 150 of LEGO and earning a special visit to the Kao Data campus in Harlow .
Encouraging STEM education from early years has been proven to be beneficial across the entire spectrum of learning and can influence both a student ’ s future academic and career choices . Through the Kao Academy , Kao Data aims to engage the next generation of technology enthusiasts at Key Stage 2 level and encourage them to take an active interest in science and engineering , potentially even leading to some children pursuing future careers within the data centre industry .
The data centre skills shortage has long been hailed as one of the industry ’ s most significant challenges and in 2021 , the Uptime Institute estimated staff requirements within the sector would grow to almost 2.3 million by 2025 . STEM subjects have long been synonymous with the data centre industry and children who excel in science , technology , engineering and mathematics are expected to play a key role in both the growth of the UK digital economy and the country ’ s future as it continues to reinforce its position as a global leader in tech .
Kao Data has long-championed science and technology and the company is named after Sir Charles Kao , who in 1966 first discovered and pioneered the use of optical fibre technology on the campus where Kao Data ’ s highperformance Harlow data centres reside . This scientific breakthrough paved the way for the birth of the Internet , cloud and supercomputing . Fittingly , the UK ’ s fastest supercomputer , NVIDIA ’ s Cambridge-1 , is located at Kao Data , using the same
THROUGH THE KAO ACADEMY , KAO DATA AIMS TO ENGAGE THE NEXT GENERATION OF TECHNOLOGY ENTHUSIASTS AT KEY STAGE 2 LEVEL .
technology to identify breakthroughs in digital biology and healthcare .
“ Data centres are today instrumental to our way of life – they underpin many of our daily activities , support our work , entertainment , retail and financial choices , facilitate human inter-communication and were fundamental in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic ,” said Adam Nethersole , Vice President , Kao Data . “ Despite all of this , general understanding and appreciation of data centres is surprisingly low . Starting with children , and through the Kao Academy , our mission is to drive greater awareness of data centres , their crucial role and showcase the people who design , build and operate them .” www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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