Welcome home Power play! Each week, senior writer Molly Taft tackles the biggest issue of the midseason: data centers. This week is off, so Caroline Haskins is on a mission. If you have questions or comments about this column, please email Caroline at [email protected] or contact her securely on Signal at carolinehaskins.61.
How the Data Center Industry Is Reaching Students Through Schools
The nonprofit organization 7×24 Exchange International wants to promote data centers as “mission-critical” infrastructure. As part of that effort, the group recommends fairy tales, including “What Is a Data Center?”.
The story follows a ratel named Honey, who receives a guided tour of a data center from a worker named Oliver. Oliver explains that data center employees ensure “the functionality supported by the data center” is available to everyone “at any time.”
“Like when Mom shops online late at night because Dad is asleep and doesn’t notice?” Honey asks.
Why data center companies are targeting young people
The story is part of a broader pattern across the data center industry. Alongside lobbying, job-creation programs, and tax cuts, corporations and industry groups are using a more creative strategy: appealing to young people.
As communities raise concerns about massive data center developments and energy-hungry campuses, the industry appears to be taking a softer approach to community building. The strategy echoes tactics used by other industries facing public relations challenges.
Alex Molnar, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center, told WIRED that image-challenged industries—including fast food, tobacco, and oil and gas—have sent messages to schools for more than a century.
“A very big reason why companies get involved in schools is, simply put, corporate propaganda. It’s not necessarily about selling a product, it’s about telling the ‘story’ of the company,” Molnar says.
Data center outreach in Loudoun County, Virginia
In May, the Potomac Chapter of the Association for Computer Operations Management (AFCOM), a trade group for the data center industry, sponsored a Memorial Day-themed flag-making kit that was distributed to 3,100 first-year students at 37 schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, also known as Data Center Alley.
Along with the flag kits, students received information cards highlighting statistics about the “positive impact” of the data center industry on the local economy.
Source: www.wired.com