Datacentre developers should be doing more to ensure local communities are reaping the full benefits that having a server farm on their doorstep can bring, according to a report by engineering firm Hoare Lea.

The company’s DC society: putting community into datacentre thinking report makes the case for developments to become more socially integrated with the communities around them because – as things stand – datacentres are something that is “often done to local communities, not by local communities”.

As detailed in the report: “This is because there is no agreed blueprint or roadmap on what a socially conscious datacentre looks like.” And this is wrong because datacentres have the potential to bring multiple benefits to local communities, beyond simply creating jobs for residents during the construction and operation phases of their development, the report stated.

To this point, datacentres have the “potential to improve health outcomes, create jobs, support research centres and draw in high-value industries” for the benefit of local residents, the report continued.

“This means that datacentre developers have a responsibility to work with other stakeholders to create a positive impact on society, beyond data buildings and campuses,” said Derek Main, director of datacentre and mission critical at Hoare Lea, in the introduction to the report.

At the same time, developers are likely to favour setting up shop in locations where the local community is supportive of what they are trying to do. However, securing that support will be difficult to achieve without spelling out the benefits to local citizens that a datacentre development can bring.

“Datacentres will locate elsewhere to countries and regions where there is less resistance and where they are more welcome,” the report stated. “The lack of a direct community dividend can make datacentre developments untenable.”

Examples shared in the report of local benefits that could be generated by encouraging developers to forge closer ties with the surrounding communities include schemes where the waste heat from datacentres are reused within neighbouring housing developments, community buildings or vertical farm setups.

The sites could also offer discounted data access for research institutions, such as universities or NHS organisations, or bring in economic benefits by acting as lure for other digitally minded businesses to move into the area, the report added.

“Datacentre developments can be beacons, catalysts and nodes for social and economic gains if fully realised,” the report stated. “This type of infrastructure can also supercharge communities that embrace them.”

The report features input from several datacentre industry market stakeholders, as well as sociology experts to establish how datacentres could be more socially integrated into local communities.

“Datacentres do not need to be pitted in competition with local people for access to resources – they can enable other opportunities for people instead,” said Main.

Paul Hanna, head of societal impacts at Hoare Lea, said the contents of the report champions the importance of large-scale infrastructure developers taking time to understand a communities’ needs, which he describes as a “crucial part” of the planning process such projects.

“Alongside the technology, security, and energy-efficiency, datacentres would benefit greatly by being designed with societal insight,” Hanna continued. “If datacentre developers and owners opt into a social contract with their neighbours all parties can benefit.”

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