Data consumption is expected to increase 20-fold by 2030. Meanwhile, large data centers that enable cloud solutions are becoming increasingly difficult to integrate into energy and space planning. The transition to sustainable digital infrastructure is the only answer to this urgent challenge.

The Lower Energy Acceleration Program (LEAP) of the Amsterdam Economic Board — a program in which IDED (formerly known as SDIA) is a partner — has developed an overview of innovative solutions to accelerate this transition.

Concepts and Timeframes

The concepts examined include:

• Heuristics for hyperscale hardware management

• Utilization of renewable energy sources

• Energy-conscious software optimization

• Strategic geolocation of digital infrastructure

• AI-supported energy optimization

The concepts are divided into three timeframes:

• H1 — Solutions for today (State-of-the-Art)

• H2 — Solutions for the near future (within the next 4-6 years)

• H3 — Solutions for the further future (beyond 6 years)

Barriers, Drivers, and Scenarios

The report identifies adoption factors that would speed up the implementation of the proposed solutions, as well as obstacles and open questions. Finally, LEAP outlines four scenarios for the future of sustainable digital infrastructure: cloud centralization, flexible geolocation, seamless continuum, and time, space, and energy sequence.

Target Groups

The report is aimed at all stakeholders who want to build a future-proof and energy-efficient digital infrastructure: data center operators, software developers, telecommunications providers, business clients, NGOs, end users, as well as government organizations, decision-makers, and funding bodies.