Predictions for 2023 on Technology and Data Centers

Predicting the future is difficult. It is even harder to predict the future of technology. Technology – by design – evolves so quickly, often in response to our ever-changing needs as a species. For instance, just a few years ago, the quality of machine translation of text was significantly inferior to the quality of translations produced by a professional translator – today, to the layperson, that difference is barely noticeable in many cases.

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Chris Sharp, CTO, Digital Realty

—The year 2022 was an interesting year for advancements in technology. Despite being a year of recovery and rediscovery, technological innovations remained strong; whether it was improvements in our understanding of artificial intelligence and its relationship with consciousness or discoveries in gene editing technology. Behind most of these technological innovations is the data center industry: the central nervous system of the digital economy. And as 2022 comes to a close, it seems like the right time to look at what the next year – and beyond – might hold for technology and data centers, as well as how macro trends – such as geopolitical conflicts and ongoing concerns about energy security – might impact that.

Data centers will slowly shift from fossil fuels in favor of renewable alternatives

This is something the data center industry has been moving towards for many years. However, concerns about energy security – an issue that has truly come to the forefront this year due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine – have sharply prompted the industry to closely examine its partial dependence on non-renewable energy sources, such as diesel or gas.

This transition will not happen overnight, especially in Europe, and we will not see it completed in 2023, but we will see the continuation of that trend.

There are many successful data center hubs around the world, such as London, Singapore, and Virginia, that still have room to grow but are energy constrained, both in terms of access and supply. That does not mean we do not plan ahead for how much capacity we need. When we want to expand, there are several factors we take into account. Planning for future capacity needs is one of them, but we also look at, for example, alignment with network capacity and whether we can secure long-term supply contracts. However, for those hubs to reach their full potential and keep pace with the demand for digital services on a global scale, the industry must start looking for alternative ways to power its facilities, which ultimately means adopting a hybrid model and the ability to disconnect from the grid and become ‘decentralized’.

Explosive adoption of data-driven technologies will lead to the ubiquitous emergence of innovative cooling methods

The use of data-intensive technologies such as AI and IoT continues to grow worldwide. Specifically, since 2021, 86% of executives reported that artificial intelligence is considered a “mainstream technology,” and 91.5% of leading companies are continuously investing in AI. Whether it is monitoring live sentiment analysis in the advertising industry or the use of complex algorithms by social media companies, businesses see tangible value from using artificial intelligence. And if companies continue to see value, usage will only increase, leading to greater intensity and wider geographical distribution.

The thing is, artificial intelligence does not operate without a complex background. It is a demanding technology that requires a lot of power to operate and incredibly powerful high-density server cabinets for optimal functioning. And if high-density power cabinets are needed, high-power efficient cooling is also required. Our data centers are modular, meaning components can be replaced with other parts that may better suit a specific scenario, allowing us to evolve with increasing power density.

Historically, the most efficient way to cool a data center has been with hot and cold isolation spaces. Or, if you are lucky, you might be able to utilize a local water source, such as a river or harbor, to naturally cool your data center, as we do in Marseille and London.

However, with artificial intelligence, we need something even more innovative. I see methods like liquid cooling starting to become the most common choice. Additionally, we will also begin to see the increasingly common occurrence of phase cooling – a cooling method that utilizes the natural latent heat of evaporation of the coolant or the point at which it transitions from a liquid phase to a gaseous phase. Beyond that, we can talk about building data centers on mountaintops, but I think it is safe to say we are a bit far from that.

More data means more multi-cloud implementations

Data continues to grow in both value and volume. What was once created in very centralized locations, such as cities, is now being created everywhere. In our homes, when you are on the street, or practically anywhere else. This proliferation makes it difficult for companies to access, aggregate, and ultimately understand their data. This is called the data gravity effect, and it will become increasingly visible as our dependence on data and digital services grows.

Companies need adaptability. They must be able to access the applications and services needed to unlock the value of their data in one place, like an app store. The data center industry supports this need with highly interconnected, geographically diverse platforms that enable companies to reach the most strategic global markets with infrastructure that is flexible and can be deployed in minutes. The importance of this approach will only become more apparent next year when businesses realize that multi-cloud implementations and the adoption of hybrid IT are the only ways to navigate a data-driven world.

If there is one thing we can learn from this year, it is that infrastructure continues to evolve rapidly. At Digital Realty, we have no doubt that this trend will continue not only in 2023 but also in the years to come.