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real energy costs. She believes teaching these topics early in schools could help build more awareness and encourage sustainable thinking.
Dr Umaima Haider, Senior Lecturer, University of East London, was in agreement and discussed her experience visiting schools – where most students use YouTube and Netflix but don’ t know what a data centre is. She stressed the need to incorporate this into school curriculums and give young people more hands-on exposure to how digital infrastructure works.
Panellists shared the same sentiment when referencing the school curriculum.
The general consensus was that it should be curated around high-growth industries and the associated skills required, rather than as an afterthought.
On that note, Cranham urged stronger partnerships between educators and data centres to unlock transferable skills from other industries and nurture the next generation of talent. His belief was that the skills are out there – we just need to get better at applying them via crosssector collaboration.
Sham sai Geddada, engineering student at the University of East London, shared first-hand experience in highlighting that many young people are more interested in‘ trendy’ tech like AI and FinTech, but don’ t know much about data centres. Universities are starting to offer courses to help, but it’ s a challenge to keep youth engaged when they’ re often distracted by other content and emerging technologies.
Underhill echoed this by emphasising the need for proper training and AIliterate apprenticeship programmes to ensure future talent has a clear path into the sector.
Despite concerns, Cranham believes there’ s growing interest in data centres which is driven by AI, improved public perception and a strong focus on
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