EU Green Week Partner Events – The essential role of data centres in delivering Europe’s Green Deal

Digitalisation drives sustainability across all sectors; from online meetings replacing flights, and AI-driven insights that drive more efficient manufacturing, to a host of digital services that help citizens lead more sustainable lives.

But every digital process depends on a data centre.

Data centres are the essential infrastructure of the digital economy and it is vital that they become climate neutral.

Green data centres are core to delivering the Green Deal and the Digital Decade.

This online conference will explore the technical, regulatory and educational aspects required to deliver climate neutral data centres.

It will outline progress made and discuss the challenges that lie ahead in delivering a sustainable digital economy.

The 90-minute event will open with a keynote presentation from an invited European commission official (TBA) who will outline the importance of climate neutral data centres to Europe’s ambitions for a Digital Decade and the Green Deal.

There will then follow a panel debate with experts including hyperscale cloud providers, data centre operators and SMEs involved in educating and informing audiences of the potential of climate neutral digital services, as well as cities or other public sector bodies with a role in commissioning/regulating data centre provision.

The moderated panel will address the following topics:

• How to create a climate neutral data centre – what has been achieved and what still remains to be done.
• How the industry has cooperated to self-regulate and lead the way for others
• The importance of integrated planning and the role of data centres in the smart cities of the future
• Details of the specific targets and activities already underway and planned and their role in delivering the Green Deal

Following the panel debate the floor will be open for a Q&A with the panellists.

The event will favor the discussion on the role of biorefineries in European agriculture and will contribute to set up synergies