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OPTICOOL ANNOUNCES COOLING AGREEMENT WITH BRIDGEPOINTE TECHNOLOGIES
OptiCool Technologies, a leading provider of two-phase liquid cooling systems, has announced the signing of a master agent agreement with Bridgepointe Technologies, a leading tech advisory firm. The addition of OptiCool to Bridgepointe’ s supplier portfolio provides access to a bestin-class, high efficiency cooling solution for Bridgepointe’ s 14,000 + clients.
Global spending on cloud services is forecasted by IDC to reach US $ 1.6 trillion in 2028, double the amount spent in 2024. The fastest growing segment is expected to be AI, with a CAGR( compound annual growth rate) of 51.1 %, as enterprises increasingly build, train, test and deploy their AI platforms.
“ Bridgepointe is unique in that it combines deep technical expertise with a strong focus on business outcomes,” said Lawrence‘ LL’ Lee, Chief Channel Officer at OptiCool.“ As we scale up to meet surging demand, I expect that Bridgepointe will be an important partner in our journey.”
Gen Z opposition to data centres nationally stands at just 13 %, highlighting that proximity is a key issue.
The survey of 2,124 UK adults aged 18 + shows strong backing for the sector overall. Some 69 % of Brits support new data centres across the UK. However, support falls to 56 % when developments are proposed locally, with opposition more than doubling from 10 % nationally to 21 % in respondents’ own areas.
The findings come as the UK Government plans a major expansion of data centre capacity to bolster the country’ s position as a global hub for AI innovation and to unlock significant productivity gains. Capacity is expected to increase from 1.6GW in 2024 to between 3.3GW and 6.3GW by 2030.
New polling conducted by YouGov on behalf of Cavendish Consulting reveals that while the UK public broadly supports the expansion of data centres, younger generations are significantly less comfortable with them on their doorstep. Just 44 % of Gen Z say they would support a new data centre in their local area – the lowest level of support from any generation – while 31 % would actively oppose one. By contrast,
SURVEY REVEALS GEN Z LEAST LIKELY TO BACK DATA CENTRES IN THEIR LOCAL AREA
Employment is the sector’ s strongest argument at community level. Nearly half( 49 %) of respondents say new local jobs would make them more likely to support a data centre, rising to 58 % among those already supportive.
However, the UK’ s 450 data centres currently support around 24,300 full-time roles – an average of 54 per site – suggesting public expectations for job creation may exceed the sector’ s current footprint.
The main reasons for opposing local data centres are impact on the local environment, pressure on energy supply and water usage, with water being especially important for Gen Z. The top reasons that could sway Gen Z to support local data centres are new jobs( 45 %) and lower energy bills( 37 %).
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