INTERVIEW

DATA CENTRES ARE AS INVISIBLE AND ESSENTIAL AS AIR

BY RAHUL BHARGAV

Technology is the vital force that has shaped human evolution. From the domestication of fire about 2 million years ago, to fabricating basic tools and weapons in the stone age, from the introduction of agriculture thousands of years ago, to harnessing the power of steam, technology has been the driving force that elevates human life.

Humankind has seen a tremendous phase of growth since the great wave of the industrial revolution. The First Industrial Revolution enabled us to advance from hand production to machine production, thus standardising quality and maximising output. The Second Industrial Revolution witnessed the phase of rapid standardisation and industrialisation. The enormous expansion of railways, automobiles, and aeroplanes brought unprecedented mobility. And the initiation of the telegraph, telephones, and electrical power revolutionised communication. The First World War halted the Second Industrial Revolution. The Third Industrial Revolution helped generate sweeping changes via digital computing and communication technologies. This marked the imperative beginning of the Information Age, a shift from mechanical and analogue systems to digital electronics.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a blurring dissipation of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. It has already brought products and services that are becoming indispensable to modern life. Multiple technologies are driving this change – artificial intelligence, smart authentication, low latency computing, virtual and augmented reality, biotechnology, robotics, the internet of things, 3D printing, and many more, yet to be discovered. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the current automation using data-driven smart technology. We are talking about Machine-to-machine communication, improved communication, and self-monitoring, with the inception of smart machines that analyse and resolve issues despite human intervention. This may also introduce an oxymoron to production – mass customisation.

The two engines driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution are high-speed internet and low latency data management. Distributed data management facilities that deliver storage, compute and connectivity with low latency bring the cloud to the consumer. The centrality of such “Edge” distributed data management facilities for an efficient and productive digital economy is easy to conceive. The ever-evolving customer expectations certainly mean that the companies and service providers constantly focus on providing contextualised and tailored engagements 40 | www.thesixthelementmag.com | July 2021 based on earlier interactions. Customer datafuelled Artificial Intelligence would deliver a long way in predicting and proactively fulfilling customer requirements. However, as data becomes the currency of digital lives, there is an increased focus on privacy and security of customer information as well.

Data centres are at the heart of modern IT infrastructure. They weave through all sectors of the economy providing fast, secure and enabled applications. Much like the air we breathe, the availability of high-speed internet, smartphones, rapid adoption of cloud, the availability of data storage, management services and related technologies is taken for granted. From a user 's perspective, such invisible provisioning is ideal. It is also a booming and profitable sector in itself featuring some of the world's most recognisable companies – Amazon, Google, Microsoft, as also Alibaba, IBM, and Oracle. Data management services are in rising demand, hence the requirement for fast and efficient implementation of the same is pushing the sector from centralised warehouse models to a distributed node model. Taking advantage of very high-speed connectivity trunks between data centres – speeds usually not available to retail consumers – and also of their location being nearer to the consumers – thus decreasing latency – Edge Data Centre networks are enabling a wide range of nextgen applications, while also providing lower latency, higher security, scalability, reliability, and assurance of service availability

total electricity demand, data transmission networks, and Data Management Facilities i.e. Data Centres are a highly powerintensive sector. With the escalating demand for data centres, this energy consumption share is bound to increase. Taking into consideration its environmental impact, the industry has consistently exhibited self-regulation and improvement. From a Power Usage Effectiveness ratio of 2 plus at the end of the previous millennium, the industry is now at PUE of 1.2. Over the same time the average CPU processing per watt has doubled every 2 years. Increasing coherence and the ongoing shift to sourcing greener energy are certainly steps towards taking and championing environmental responsibility

Great Britain became the world's dominant commercial nation because it was the main driving force behind the First Industrial Revolution. The First Industrial Revolution delivered unprecedented and sustained growth, thus improving the standard of living for the overall population in the western world. Similarly, the United States enjoyed the highest economic growth during the later stages of the Second Industrial Revolution based on heavy industries and mining. Increased mechanisation and worker efficiency boosted productivity as well as undercutting the requirement of skilled labour, while substituting unskilled labour.By leading technology innovation – especially in computing and digital technology, the United States has experienced utmost benefits of the Third Industrial Revolution and led the globalisation of trade.

Economies and companies that transform to a global integrated shared digital ecosystem will benefit greatly, at the expense of those who don't. It is an opportunity worth seizing, and those who develop agile ways of managing this transformation will be best positioned It is important that governments wake up to this challenge, and adopt an agile approach – adaptive and to benefit from it. sustainable policy making that is welcoming of policy and strategy contributions from businesses. It is important for governments and policy makers to focus on the purpose of technological innovation, not just on check box regulatory compliance. Governments should facilitate technological innovation and develop performance based regulatory frameworks. At the same time, it is important for governments to not abdicate from the responsibility of framing policies and aligning them with the best interests of their citizens.

Promoting and facilitating the building of critical public utilities like water supply, transportation, and electricity enabled countries to benefit from earlier industrial revolutions. Similarly, countries that promote the building of High-Speed Wide Bandwidth Data Transmission and Data Centre Infrastructure, andprioritise Edge Data Centres, would generate opportunities for their entrepreneurs and businesses to profit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This shift is stillunfolding, but is very much real. We can choose to either ride this wave, or allow it to drown us. THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW