Vienna threatens IT specialist shortage: data centers in the upswing!

Vienna threatens IT specialist shortage: data centers in the upswing!

The Vienna Chamber of Commerce warns of a dramatically increasing need for data centers that are considered the digital backbone of many industries. The market for data centers is estimated at around 412 billion euros for this year and forecast with an annual growth rate of over eight percent. By 2029, the volume could grow to around 568 billion euros. These huge data processors are essential not only for industry and healthcare, but also for public administration. The need for a reliable power supply and a nationwide fiber optic frastructure increases immensely, while Vienna scores as a location due to its high level of supply and earthquake security, as krone.at reports.

But where can there be space for new data centers when real estate prices in the city rise and suitable areas become rare? There are currently 21 such centers in Vienna, while an acute shortage of skilled workers also hinders growth: 6,000 IT specialists are currently missing. The demand is particularly fueled by the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) that requires enormous computing capacities. Martin Heimhilcher, chairman of the Information and Consulting of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, warns that AI applications are energetically very time-consuming-a single request can exceed the energy requirement of an entire conventional data application by up to a hundredfold

global challenges for data centers

At a global level, the market for data centers will grow by an average of 11.3 percent per year by 2026, with the area of ​​the hyperscale calculation centers in particular with over 22.6 percent. Morgan Laughlin by Pgim Real Estate predicts that data production will quadruple by 2025, which presents the systems with immense challenges. The search for suitable locations is difficult because the requirements for the infrastructure are high: data centers must not be in flood or earthquake areas and must be connected to powerful data networks. The electricity requirement, which could be as high shortly as the entire consumption of the Netherlands, also complicates the location search, as