Digitalization, Sustainability and Data Centers

Alongside the social impacts of digitalization, arguably a neglected aspect – yet a crucial piece of the puzzle – is the power and data capacities necessary to sustain growth and demand. As the World Bank states in a 2023 report​, a greening of this data infrastructure is crucial to wider sustainability efforts: "By reducing the environmental footprint of data centers, countries can lower emissions and meet sustainability goals." At the same time, data centers have become indispensable to society and economic growth, yet are themselves vulnerable to climate risks.

At this event held at Digital Realty – Switzerland's largest and CO2-neutral​ data center – we will take a deep-dive into this critical topic which affects businesses, individuals and society alike. With contributions from data centers, infrastructure providers, networks and academia, we will look at what can be done to move us to a more sustainable IT infrastructure in terms of energy efficiency, materials, water usage and power.

As well as this, Digital Realty is also offering a unique behind-the-scenes look at their data center, with an optional tour starting at 17:30 – registration required.

Interested in joining us?

We kindly ask that you arrive on time if you would like to join the tour. There will be strict security on site, so admission is only possible with government-issued ID (driving licence, Ausweiss or passport only).

Update: the tour tickets have now sold out, but if you are interested please add your name here​ so we can open up an extra tour.