Collaborations

Collaborations

We believe that collaboration is the best way to move forward. The Dutch Data Center Association connects data centers, market parties, interest groups and other companies in the digital sector in a confidential community.

From that community we always look for collaborations in the broadest possible coalition. For example, we actively cooperate with the government at municipal, provincial and national level to further shape policy, with schools to bring education and business closer together and thus stimulate educational innovation, with international sector organizations to grow at European level. Finally, we work together with DSO operators to ensure that the digital sector can continue to grow continuously and sustainably through the power network. Below is an overview of these collaborations.

The internet is indispensable in our daily lives, digitization is everywhere and the digital economy has become the economy of the Netherlands. This lightning-fast transition also means changes in regulations. It is therefore important that the government allocates time and space for new digital developments. An adequate digital infrastructure is an important factor for companies in choosing to establish in the Netherlands and serves as a precondition for the international competitive position of the Netherlands. In addition, technologies such as 5G, Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications require a robust infrastructure for the digital society. An essential sector, therefore, where we must continue to stimulate growth and development and for which future-proof legislation is needed.

Spatial National Data Center Strategy

The Dutch Data Center Association is in contact with many government institutions at local, provincial and national level to ensure that the regulations regarding data centers and its ecosystem run as smoothly as possible. For example, the National Data Center Strategy has been working with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations for some time through the Implementation Program of the Spatial Economic Development Strategy (REOS). A strategy that coordinates the spatial layout of data centers.

Furthermore, as DDA we work together with the government on all our themes

  • Electricity, Sustainability & Residual heat
    As a representative of the data center industry, the DDA is working actively with policy makers at all levels to make the industry more sustainable and efficient. Every year the DDA organizes a Sustainability Conference, in the field of residual heat data center, innovation and energy efficiency, to speed up developments in this area.Read here about our views on Energy & Sustainability
  • Education and Employment
    Finding sufficient qualified personnel is one of the biggest challenges facing the Dutch data center industry. That is why the DDA is in regular contact with all kinds of (semi-) government institutions that are involved in education. With the common goal of inspiring future employees for a job in IT or Technology.Read more about our positions on Labor Market & Employment here
  • Digital Economy & Mainport
    An adequate digital infrastructure is an important factor of establishing for companies and contributes to the international competitive position of the Netherlands: now 20% of all foreign investments relate to the digital sector, and data centers at the national level contribute 1 billion annually to the GDP. It is therefore an essential sector whose growth and development we must continue to promote. For this, the DDA is therefore in contact with the Minister of Economic Affairs and regional development companies.Read more about our views on Digital Economy & Mainport here

The DDA is committed to enthusing, informing, training and retraining new talent. Together with the data center industry, educational institutions and governments. This way, we ensure that there is sufficient workforce available to grow the data center sector – and therefore the digital economy of the Netherlands. The sector is always looking for technically & digitally trained staff who want to work in this future-proof industry! To strengthen our activities even more, we collaborate with other parties both on a national and international scale.

 

National

International

Tech College & Job Fair 

Because the sector is always looking for new talent, the DDA organizes the Data Center Tech College & Job Fair (DTC), which mostly focuses on MBO and HBO institutions.

DTC is an excellent event for tech enthusiasts to learn about the data center sector and to find a future internship or job.Do you want to be kept informed of upcoming editions of the DDA Datacenter Tech College & Career Fair? Or does your institution want to participate? Please visit the website www.werkenvoordatacenters.nl.

It is clear that data centers cannot run without power. Network operators such as Vattenfall, Tennet and Liander supply this electricity and the associated electricity networks. The data centers form a large concentration regarding energy consumption and this consumption is reinforced by the emergence of clusters of data centers, such as in Amsterdam. These clusters have a major impact on power networks and substations. After all, these networks were never designed with data centers in mind.

In order to continue to provide data centers with power in the future, close collaboration between network operators and the Dutch Data Center Association is of great importance. An important objective of the DDA is to support the growth of the power infrastructure. We do this by involvement in critical issues and organizing congresses to get parties together and support the energy transition that we will have to work on together. An energy transition that is necessary for the success of the unstoppable digitization, and vice-versa.

We are a member of the Computer Rooms and Data Centers Standards committee. This committee follows and determines international standards in the field of data centers. Hereby, agreements are made between different (inter)national parties: from users to builders and suppliers and from designers to knowledge institutes. The working area includes requirements with regard to the build, use, management and maintenance of data centers. There are also standards that concern the infrastructure of the cabling in the building, physical safety, energy efficiency and power consumption. Of course, there needs to be a clear terminology for the different types and categories of data centers.

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