What's Been AI's Effect on Data Centres? -DIGIT Tech News Roundup

Welcome to the latest edition of the DIGIT Tech News Roundup.

In this week’s newsletter, we will cover some of our top-trending tech news stories and features from the week beginning 10th of March.

This week, we're taking a look at the strain AI is putting on the country's data centres.

Beyond that, we explore the swelling revenues of cybersecurity in the UK, the diminished capacity of IT leaders to admit when they make mistakes.

Oh, and machine identities now outnumber humans 40,000 to 1.

All this and more below.

Police Could Use Driving License Data for Facial Recognition in New Bill

The UK government’s Crime and Policing Bill could potentially mean that the driving license database could be used by police as a facial recognition database, human rights group Liberty warns.

This would provide UK police with the biometric data of millions of people in the UK who have never committed a crime or been part of a criminal investigation.

The Bill, introduced to Parliament in February 2025, introduced a range of Home Office-sponsored changes which will extend police powers, especially when it comes to surveillance.

Under the new bill, the police would have access to driving license data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). This houses the data of over 52 million driver records.

Currently, the access to this data is yet to be stipulated under the bill, and will be determined by the secretary of state if the bill is adopted.

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Millions at Risk of Isolation if Terrestrial TV Is Scrapped

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is calling on the government to give long-term protection to the UK’s free-to-air terrestrial TV service, as new research finds strong support (73%) for retaining it and low awareness that its future is under threat.

Ministers are currently examining the future of TV distribution ahead of a decision on whether to continue terrestrial TV beyond the early 2030s or whether to push all TV to online streaming.

Produced in collaboration with academics working in the fields of community cohesion and global digital politics, the report reveals terrestrial TV’s universal coverage and free-to-air transmission – which allow all households to watch TV without the need for high speed broadband or monthly subscriptions – are crucial to the UK’s social resilience.

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Is AI Pushing Data Centres to Their Limits?

The flood of new AI technology is ratcheting up the pressure on current data centre capabilities, with those managing these facilities beginning to feel the strain, according to a new report from electronic systems design firm Cadence.

The company’s latest report, Data Center Evolution: The Innovation Imperative, found that almost three-quarters (74%) of data centre IT, facility, and business decision makers report being under increased pressure from AI-driven demands.

While 73% of all respondents agree that the use of AI within data centres is still in its infancy, three-quarters (75%) believe that in the future, AI will run data centres in place of human operators, beginning more immediately with the 50% of respondents that plan to use AI for energy management to drive efficiency and sustainability.

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Machine Identities Now Outnumber Humans 40,000 to 1

Machine identities now outnumber humans 40,000 to 1, presenting major challenges to enterprise security, according to a new report from cloud security platform Sysdig.

The firm’s 2025 Cloud-Native Security and Usage Report found that the explosion in machine identity numbers has dramatically expanded attack surfaces for businesses, with machine identities 7.5 times more risky than human counterparts.

According to the report, the average organisation manages around 915 users and 41,605 service accounts, with excessive permissions across networks leading to increasing risks of cloud breach and opportunities for malicious access.

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UK Cybersecurity Revenue Grows 12%, Reaches ￡13.2BN

According to new data from the UK government, the cybersecurity industry saw a 12% increase in total revenue in 2024, reaching ￡13.2 billion.

The UK government described this as an “exceptional performance” ratified by data from Companies House and a telephone survey.

The cybersecurity industry also saw other forms of growth, as a about 74 new firms cropped up in the last financial year, bringing the estimated total number of firms to 2165.

With these new firms, the sector also saw the creation of 6,600 new full-time positions to the sector, an increase of 11% year on year. The total workforce in the cyber industry is now at 67,300.

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40% of IT Leaders Too Afraid to Acknowledge Mistakes

Four in 10 IT leaders are too afraid to acknowledge their mistakes due to a culture of ‘blame’ and ‘fear’ across their organisations, according to new research from Adaptavist, the digital transformation technology and solutions provider.

This is having a significant impact on innovation, quality of output, performance, and psychological safety, and risks undermining IT resilience, the study of 400 IT leaders in the UK, US, and Germany revealed.

In fact, Adaptavist’s research, conducted by Censuswide, showed that 44% believe that lack of psychological safety is hindering innovation in their organisation, while 42% said that a fear of acknowledging mistakes compromises their company’s cyber security.

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