D E E P D I V E
AI and Machine Learning are particularly energy-intensive , and that means higher carbon emissions . We need more investment in sustainable data centre solutions to ensure this focus on AI compute doesn ’ t adversely affect the environment .
One simple solution is to locate this energy-intensive compute in locations with ready access to renewable energy and temperate climates that allow free air cooling – for example , data centres in the Nordics . Most AI applications are not latency sensitive so this solution won ’ t negatively impact business . There are also cost savings associated with moving AI compute to locations like the Nordics because of increased energy efficiency and access to renewables .
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role ?
The main challenge in Finland is that it ’ s not a central location in the data centre market . It ’ s evolving into a regional hub , but it ’ s not quite there yet . There ’ s also the latency challenge , which can be important for certain industries . But in reality , only about 10 % of applications are truly latency-sensitive .
So , the majority of applications can be located in Finland and other non-metro locations . As I said , AI is typically not latencysensitive and that ’ s a big area of focus for many businesses across industries at the moment . There are also other benefits to Finland .
For example , heat reuse is compulsory across the whole EU , but the local government here offers tax incentives for this , which really helps . It ' s also easy to implement here because there are existing district heating grids which data centres can utilise .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the coming months ?
Over the last year , my focus at Verne has been to help finalise the integration of all three of our locations – London , Iceland and Finland – so that operations are centralised , and everyone has access to the same systems .
Now , with Ardian ’ s support , we are moving forward with our growth plans . That will be my main priority in the coming months – preparing for growth ; both in terms of expanding the business and increasing our headcount . We ’ ve had a lot of new hires to the senior management team recently – including Matti Tella , our new Technical Director here in Finland . So , we ’ re already well on our way to where we want to be . �
www . intelligentdatacentres . com 69