The CNI initiative, with the backing of the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, will mandate that data centers implement robust security protocols and adhere to higher security standards to protect sensitive data.
The UK data center Critical National Infrastructure: challenges and opportunities What does Critical National Infrastructure status mean for data centers?.
There are no official records of how many data centers there are in the UK, perhaps down to the sensitive nature of data itself, however, Statistica puts the current number at 514, the third highest number in one country worldwide, behind the United States and Germany.
It's now pretty clear that power has become the main limiting factor when it comes to building and expanding data centers, and the increased focus on AI is only making the situation worse, as training and using AI models use significantly more compute and associated power than traditional software.
The recent announcement by the UK Government that it would designate data centers as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), placing them in the same category as energy and water systems, is a clear recognition of the vital role they play in today’s economy and society.
