David Craig , CEO , Iceotope , discusses the impact of the data explosion and how this is transforming the data centre model as the need to remain relevant to customers and investors is ever present .

n 2020 , humans were creating , on average , 1.7MB

And by the end of 2021 , we will have conducted 2 trillion Google searches . I think it ’ s safe to say that data ubiquity is upon us , which is exciting .

How we access and interact with data is constantly changing and is going to have a real impact . To quote Henriq Cecci of Gartner , ‘ the data centre is no longer the centre of our data ’. The sheer volume we are creating will need to be processed and refined away from the centre itself and closer to the end-user .

That is because data on that scale is not easily moveable . Known as data gravity , as datasets grow larger , they become harder to move . Smaller applications and other bodies of data will gravitate around larger data masses . As a result , the data ends up staying put and the applications and processing power come to where the data resides . Much of this is being driven by Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) applications . The closer you are to the customer , the more likely you ’ ll be using AI applications for better speed of access , operation and performance .

Let ’ s look at retail as an example . Data gathering is going to be all about the customer journey and how to enhance their experience in-store . Accenture found that 83 % of consumers are willing to share their data to enable a personalised experience . This can be a game-changer for everything from tailored advertising and product recommendations to more complex applications like real-time multilingual ordering and automation in a fast food restaurant .

The energy industry , like many others , is undergoing a Digital Transformation as well . PWC found that use of digital

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