F E A T U R E
BARCELONA DRIVES
DATA CENTRE BOOM WHILE IRELAND STRUGGLES TO CATCH UP
While Barcelona and Ireland are on distinct trajectories , they ’ re aligned in their pursuit of creating robust , efficient and sustainable digital infrastructures . Barcelona ’ s proactive investment strategy is setting the city on course to become a key digital hub , while Ireland faces the urgent need to enhance its approach and appeal to remain competitive . o far in 2024 , over
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US $ 7 billion has been invested in data centres across Europe , highlighting the region ’ s growing importance in the data centre market , according to data from Linklaters . By 2027 , the economic benefits enabled by global data centres could reach up to US $ 6.3 trillion per annum , supporting around 650,000 jobs directly , and countless more indirectly , as mentioned by Andy Power , CEO , Digital Realty , in The Value of Data Centres Report .
Continuing to look at Europe , Pb7 Research highlighted in 2018 that the Dutch data centre market is good for nearly 13,000 jobs and makes an economic contribution of more than a billion Euros .
Data centres are undoubtedly a crucial part of the digital economy . Nonetheless , depending on where you place your finger on the globe also depends on how equitable the operations are .
Digital Realty recently released two pieces of data that are key in analysing demand and development of data centre activities ; a report in collaboration with Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona and DE-CIX , prepared by the analysis firm Foundry , as well as research in partnership with
Hewlett Packard Enterprise focusing on Irish enterprises .
The Digital Port of the Mediterranean report analysed the effect of investment in data centres , highlighting the steps to be taken to consolidate the region as a node of interconnection between Europe , North Africa and the Middle East .
Moreover , the Ireland survey , commissioned by Amárach Research , surveyed 150 senior IT and business decision-makers and explored the context around Ireland ’ s pursuit of digital innovation , and how the country ’ s IT environment is evolving to enable the transition .
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