Sustainable development solutions showcased at a top data center industry event
The Future Data Summit 2024 featured interesting speeches from leading industry experts. Mervi Airaksinen, Managing Director of Microsoft Finland, emphasized the importance of the skills shortage for the growth of the data center industry. According to Airaksinen, future professionals will need curiosity, creativity, and courage: “AI has been around for decades, but generative AI took the whole industry by surprise. Since the release of ChatGPT-3, many things have happened that we did not anticipate.”
Minister of Climate and Environment, Kai Mykkänen, highlighted Finland’s strengths as a location for data center operations. Mykkänen pointed out the availability of clean electricity and the strength of Finland’s electricity grid. “We have good opportunities to double or even triple our annual electricity production over the next 5-10 years.” Mykkänen also mentioned that Finland is on schedule to reach its carbon neutrality target by 2035.
Google’s Director of Data Center Operations, Edu Albuquerque, spoke about the sustainable development of Google’s data centers and cooperation with local communities. Albuquerque explained that Google’s Hamina data center utilizes seawater for cooling and provides surplus heat to the local district heating network free of charge. “Our project in Hamina started with a concept we called ‘Utopia.’ At first, it felt like an almost impossible task, but with the strong support of the municipality of Hamina and Hamina Energia, we made it a reality.” Albuquerque emphasized that Google’s goal is to achieve 100% carbon-free energy production in all its data centers by 2030.
Veli-Matti Laurikka, CEO of DCI Ratkaisut Oy, is pleased with the seminar and sees a lot of benefit in the event. “It was great to be able to present DCI’s solutions and products at the Future Data Summit 2024 expo area,” Laurikka commented. “The event provided an excellent opportunity to meet customers and discuss current industry topics. It was particularly interesting to hear how leading industry players such as Google and Microsoft are investing in sustainable development. We at DCI share the same vision and believe that functional technology can also be environmentally friendly.”