Future gazing: Predictions for the data centre market and digital infrastructure industry in Italy and beyond

The data centre industry is at the heart of any digital infrastructure. During the pandemic, it has kept billions of people connected, working and entertained. 

As digitalisation accelerates and businesses demand more computing power and move more data to the cloud, what is the future of the digital infrastructure industry? How will artificial intelligence, edge computing, big data and 5G affect how we store, access and process data? What skills will the industry need? 

These were some of the topics discussed at a recent (digitally held) industry panel I had the chance to enjoy: “Tomorrow’s Data Center Forum". Available on demand in Italian, the event focused on the Italian market but also discussed international trends.  

The discussion was skilfully moderated by Enrico Pagliarini, a prominent technology journalist at Radio24, a leading Italian business news station (if you speak Italian, I highly recommend Enrico’s tech podcasts). The panel included academics, top executives from the data centre, cloud computing industries and consulting firms, from Italy and worldwide. 

The forum provided plenty of food for thought on the opportunities that digitalisation can unlock – not only in accelerating business growth across all industries and markets, but also to enable a more interconnected society across Italy and neighbouring countries.  

Deep learning 

Machine learning and AI are just starting to show their potential. Having these tools available “as a service” will enable businesses to take giant leaps forward in many areas. The technology is improving fast. And we’re still just scratching the surface of AI.  

To get to the next level of AI and other promising technologies we need a talented workforce.  

A global shortage of skilled talent is slowing the adoption of AI, including deep learning and robotic process automation. Skills shortages are a perennial problem for the IT industry, but there are signs of progress. In Italy, for example, an increasing number of university courses teach machine learning, noted Manuel Roveri, associate professor at the department of electronics and computer engineering of the Politecnico di Milano (my alma mater!). 

To close, or at least narrow the skill gaps, our workforce should better reflect the diverse skills and talents our societies can offer. Women have long been chronically under-represented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). The number of women in STEM is increasing but, as Francesca Romana d’Ambrosio, a professor of environmental technical physics at the University of Salerno in Italy, noted, progress is still too slow. She added that the composition of this very panel was also gender unbalanced. Good point. 

Emerging markets 

Talking about geographies, Emmanuel Becker, managing director Italy at Equinix, a global data centre provider, said that its new “GN1” data centre in Genoa, Italy, will allow increased connectivity with Africa and unlock more business opportunities between Italy/Europe and Africa. The data centre will support one of the world's largest submarine telecommunications cable projects, which will circumnavigate Africa ? directly connecting 16 countries to Europe and the Middle East. Clearly, these new digital highways create opportunities and fuel growth.  

Research company Gartner has forecast that end-user spending on global data centre infrastructure will reach $200 billion in 2021, up 6% from 2020. Robust growth in the data centre industry is set to continue post-pandemic, with 18-20% year-on-year growth over the next three years forecast by Infiniti Research, as Sherif Rizkalla, CEO of SUPERNAP Italia, one of the largest data centre providers in the country and in the EMEA region, explained during the session. 

Much of that growth stems from increasing demand for hyperscale data centres, which can store data generated in the cloud, he added. There will also be growth in edge data centres (where data is processed close to the point of use), primarily for applications such as video-streaming and “smart cities”, he also said. 

Within Europe, Italy, Spain and Poland are emerging as important places for co-location data centres, finally complementing, if not challenging, the market leadership of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris (FLAP), panellists said. 

Becker of Equinix said that its digital, cloud-based platform “Equinix Fabric” ? which connects companies to trading partners around the world and technology companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Google ? was creating a new type of digital network, “completely eliminating internet traffic”. 

It was a lively and informative event, touching upon many topics that were fairly new ? at least for Italy. Clearly, this is just the beginning of a longer conversation. More events to follow, we trust.  

For other stimulating discussions on the data centre and digital infrastructure industry, you can listen on demand to Vertiv’s EMEA Data Center Cooling Innovation Forum  held last December and register for Vertiv’s upcoming Modular Data Center Innovation Forum on April 22nd.