Data centers and the new Labour government: the start of a beautiful friendship?

The enduring image of Rick Blaine and Captain Renault walking arm in arm into the twilight at the end of Casablanca sets a standard for unlikely partnerships. And today, back in the real world, is the sense of rapport between the new government and data centers equally fictional? The short answer is no, because data center development aligns perfectly with core policy priorities.

Delivering large-scale data infrastructure projects in the UK is fraught with difficulty for operators and developers: suitable sites within starship range of the UK’s London market are vanishingly rare and land prices are inflated by competition both from peers and speculators. On the policy front, well-intentioned legislation sometimes seems designed to make life difficult by imposing complexity, cost, and delay. Moreover, public understanding of data center functions is surprisingly low in the UK in view of our digital dependency and our success as innovators, providers, and exporters of digital services.

Read more from Emma Fryer, who leads CyrusOne’s public policy activity in Europe Data centers and the new Labour government: the start of a beautiful friendship? – DCD