A new industry sector - the datacenter sector - is emerging in Sweden. Several datacenter operators are establishing and many companies have already begun operations: Ericsson has its Cloud business area, ABB has a datacenter business area, Alfa-Laval, Swegon, NCC and Skanska have products as well as Facebook's establishment in Luleå.
SICS Swedish ICT, in partnership with Luleå University of Technology, has started preliminary planning for a large-scale testing and experimentation facility under the working name SICS ICE (Infrastructure and Cloud datacenter test Environment). Through the initiative, research expertise is being assembled in datacenters that supports existing research expertise in Big Data. Sweden's environment and climate are perfect for datacenters, with ample access to cooling, energy and a stable geological structure, as well as a skilled work force, political stability and well-developed infrastructure.
The test facility is necessary for establishing research, and a large-scale server facility is needed for testing new technology. Size is important because it is a challenge in itself and the reason why the plan is for a datacenter of at least 2 megawatts, which corresponds to at least 5,000 servers – or the annual production of electricity for all single-family dwellings in the Swedish community of Arjeplog with its 2,000 inhabitants. It's a matter of an investment of approximately SEK 200 million.
“If growth is at the rate we hope for and anticipate this means several challenges regarding energy, automation and new technology,” says SICS CEO Christer Norström. “If we can satisfy the need, in combination with the good conditions we already have in place, we hold all the trump cards. But this requires an all-embracing strategy for the datacenter sector.”
- Last year Luleå hosted the EIT ICT Labs and CLoudberry Science and Innovation days
- In 2015 the Cloudberry days will be held on May 27-28 in Luleå. Please read mroe at www.cloudberry-datacenters.com
