We’re proud to join our peers across the digital infrastructure industry in supporting a new report from the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), ‘Digital Infrastructure Modernization for an AI Future: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead’.
GeSI is the only global membership organisation that helps the IT industry use digital solutions to tackle the world’s biggest environmental and social challenges.
The new report explores how transforming infrastructure in three critical areas (networks, equipment upgrades and data centres) can pave the way for sustainable AI while addressing key challenges and opportunities.
You can download the full report or read our short summary:
1. The Challenge of Balancing AI Growth with Sustainability
The rapid expansion of AI is driving extraordinary innovation but also creating significant energy demands. By 2030, data centres alone could consume up to 4% of global electricity, underscoring the urgent need to balance AI’s environmental impact with its transformative potential.
Interestingly, AI itself can play a role in sustainability by optimising energy use. From improving grid management to enhancing energy efficiency in various industries, AI holds the potential to mitigate some of the challenges it creates.
2. Infrastructure modernisation: The backbone of AI
To support the demands of AI, digital infrastructure must evolve. Key advancements include:
- Next-generation networks: Transitioning from copper to fibre over the last decade has significantly improved energy efficiency while reducing emissions. At Colt, initiatives such as the phasing out of our legacy SDH and TDM networks has significantly cut energy consumption.
- Energy-efficient data centres: Modern data centres integrate IT and cooling systems, adopt cloud-based models, and use innovations like liquid cooling and workload optimisation to reduce energy use. Regulatory efforts, especially in the EU, push for metrics that better reflect the environmental impact of data centres.
- Technologies like Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) are also transforming infrastructure by allowing dynamic and proportional energy usage, reducing waste during periods of low demand.
3. Ensuring credibility with net impact methodologies
As sustainability goals become a priority, scepticism around ‘greenwashing’ highlights the need for credible, science-based metrics. GeSI and the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) have developed frameworks to measure the environmental impact of digital solutions, ensuring transparency and accountability. These methodologies can help businesses better communicate the real impact of their innovations on the environment, economy and society.
4. Collaborating for a sustainable future
AI’s transformative potential relies on synchronised advancements in energy systems and IT infrastructure to avoid worsening global energy challenges. Achieving this balance will require strong collaboration across sectors, with partnerships playing a pivotal role in modernising infrastructure, managing energy use effectively, and fostering innovation for a sustainable future.
Read more detail by downloading the full paper.
Explore how we’re addressing the challenges raised in the GeSI paper here or contact us today if you’re interested in discovering how our technology and sustainability solutions can drive your digital transformation.