Economically speaking, scale-ups deliver far greater value than their size suggests. Whilst they make up just 1% of SME firms, the ‘sub-sector’ accounts for 8% of SME employment and 22% of SME turnover. Nearly 1 million people are employed in scale-up companies and these businesses have a combined turnover of almost £500 billion. Scotland has just over 2,100 scale-ups, with a pipeline of another 1,000. The current turnover of these organisations totals just over £41bn.

Are you prepared for the next leap in AI hardware? According to NVIDIA, the new GB200 NVL72 is poised to “supercharge next-generation AI and accelerating computing.” Highlights of the GB200 NVL72 include it being 25 times more energy efficient than the H100 and 18 times faster data processing compared to CPU. Data centers worldwide are striving to keep up with the AI surge and must assess whether their current facilities can handle the high-power demands of the infrastructure.

This EU regulation introduces requirements for different battery types, with standards that data centers must now follow.

Maintaining optimal temperatures in data centers has become increasingly important as power densities surge, global temperature climb, and energy consumption rises. These challenges make data center temperature monitoring more essential than ever.

Scotland has a strong historical record in seeking out and supporting data centre investment. The Green Datacentres and Digital Connectivity: Vision and Action plan is already four years old. However, time has not dampened enthusiasm. The renewed interest in data centre investment that has followed encouraging comments from Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has spread across the UK.

In an era where modern commerce is inseparable from technology, digital transformation has become crucial for businesses to survive and thrive in all markets. Scotland has led the way in understanding the impact of this shift. In August 2023, the Independent Expert Group (IEG) on Unlocking the Value of Data delivered its report to the Digital Directorate, covering private sector use of public sector personal data.

The 2023 National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) report into the UK legal sector warns that a failure to: “maintain appropriate cyber security measures… can have exceptionally negative consequences for a legal practice and its clients". Current figures cite that 65% of UK law firms have been victims of cyber incidents . Elsewhere, another report revealed that 72% - almost three-quarters - of UK-headquartered law firms have at least one employee password on the dark web.

Did you know that an average data center can consume around 300,000 gallons of water every day? With data center sustainability being a top priority for many organizations around the world, it is important to remember that sustainability is not just about decreasing the use of fossil fuels and lowering carbon emissions but reducing water consumption as well. However, according to Uptime Institute, only 43% of data centers collect data on their water usage for corporate sustainability purposes.

Data centers support everything from online transactions and streaming services to enterprise IT infrastructure and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). As technology continues to evolve rapidly, so do the operational demands placed on data centers. Staying ahead requires understanding the key trends shaping the future and adapting strategies accordingly. In this blog post, we’ll explore what may lie ahead for data center operations.

Since the 2011 Scottish Digital Strategy, Scotland's political and economic commitment to the technology industry has been consistent and substantial. The 2020 Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review and the subsequent TechScaler startup programme are great examples of this dedication at work today. Edinburgh's vital role in these plans has been equally long-standing.