Supporting Sustainable and Secure Data Centers

Bolstering Data Center Growth, Resilience and Security
CSIS
Remarks of Alan Davidson
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Washington, D.C.
Sept. 4, 2024
As prepared for delivery

Thank you. Jim. It is great to be back at CSIS. And I'm thrilled Executive Director Frisch can join us as NTIA kicks off its work - and our work together - on data center growth.

Let me start by saying that data centers are not new, but the way we're using them is.

Even before artificial intelligence supercharged demand, data centers have been a linchpin of our digital economy.

For decades, popular information services have run on data centers. The cloud computing revolution created a massive investment and dependence.

Today, consumers rely on data centers for everything from search engines to mapping software to food delivery services. Businesses rely on them too. In fact, U.S. data centers consumed more than 4% of the country's total electricity in 2022.

Because of this central role, data centers are a key area for attention to maintain U.S. competitiveness, leadership and national security.

That is especially true now that the way we are using them is changing. There is no better example of the way data center usage is growing and changing than AI. Much of that demand is being driven by the growing need to train and operate a new generation of machine learning systems.

Right now, there are more than 5,000 data centers in the United States, but demand is projected to grow by 9% annually through 2030. That is a very high rate of growth. And right now, we face tremendous challenges in meeting that demand.

The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to meeting this challenge.

The Department of Energy has a host of resources available to help data center developers meet electricity demands with clean energy solutions. I look forward to hearing more about DOE's work from our next speaker.

Our colleague in other agencies like the State Department, and across the Commerce Department, are all doing important work related to data center supply chain risk management and cybersecurity.

And that brings me to our work here today.

I am delighted to announce that today NTIA has kicked off a broad inquiry into how federal policies can support the growth of U.S. data centers.

NTIA's Request for Comment seeks input on a number of issues as we look to achieve data center market growth with sustainability and data security.

For example, we know data centers impose intense demands on power grids, and that will continue to rise. But the challenges go beyond energy:

• There are supply chain issues related to access to trusted equipment.
• There's a growing need for a specialized workforce;
• There are cybersecurity considerations to protect the information stored and processed in data centers.
• And we have to tackle land availability.

We need broad input on all of these challenges, and more. Our goal is to use this feedback to inform policy recommendations to foster sustainable, resilient and secure data center growth.

To close, I'll say we have a big challenge ahead of us and the stakes are high.

Data centers are the backbone of a secure and resilient digital economy. The are critical to U.S. competition, leadership and security.

Right now, we know we do not have enough data centers in the U.S. to power the coming AI revolution. But together, we can chart a path forward to meet that demand in a sustainable way, and realize the full potential of the AI revolution to the benefit of all.

Thank you.