A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNEP DTU Partnership and The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, furthers work on sustainable datacentres and energy efficiency in the Digital sector.
The collaboration agreement was signed by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology – Cloud Computing & Big Data Research Institute and UNEP DTU Partnership – Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency.
The two organizations will now begin to explore possible collaborations in the field of sustainable data centres, with the aim to encourage research development, knowledge sharing, capacity building, awareness raising and outreaching activities.
The MoU also lays ground for the organisations for jointly facilitating the development of sustainable and energy efficient data centres in China and at a global level with the goal to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals on climate and energy.
Read more about the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency’s work on data centres here.
A growing market – and issue
China is one of the fastest growing data centre markets in the world. The country boasts the largest online population in the world, according to research, the data centre market is expected to grow by more than 30% in 2020.
Founded in 1957, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology is a scientific research institute directly under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China.
The Cloud Computing & Big Data Research Institute (CCBD) is one of the core departments, focusing on emerging technologies of the Internet, such as internet data centre, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence.
The Data Centre Department of CCBD focuses in-depth at the field of feasibility study, planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, layout, improvement, and evaluation of data centres. It works on the field of government supporting, technical research, standard compilation, evaluation, verification, industrial consulting, platform operation, and training.
At present, the Data Centre Department of CCBD supports national ministries and local governments on policies related to data centres. It has promoted the development of nearly a hundred data centre standards and technical specifications and provided industrial consulting, evaluation and testing services for several companies.
As a research and advisory institution dedicated to accelerating the uptake of energy efficiency policies, programmes and actions globally, the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency serves as the Energy Efficiency Hub of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Initiative. The Centre’s prime responsibility is to support SEforALL’s objective of doubling the global rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030.
Since 2017 this work has included a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability for data centres.
