Questions Raised Over Rapid Drive to Attract Data Centre Investments
Quick Look
Researchers warn about the costs and speed of the aggressive competition among governments to attract data centre investments, despite the economic and infrastructure benefits.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Governments compete globally to attract major technology investments like data centres.
“There is this enthusiasm to attract investments, but now it raises the question: at what cost and at what speed?” said policy researcher Mark Manantan, a research fellow for the Centre for Global Security at La Trobe University.
At first, governments had good reason to aggressively compete for data centre investment, said political economist Alvin Camba, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative.
“They bring in large investments, support cloud and AI infrastructure, and governments worry about being left behind,” said Camba, who is also director of research at US-based AI firm Lyvi.
Open Questions
- What are the specific costs of rapid data centre attraction?
- Which governments are offering the most aggressive incentives?
