AFFLIGEM, OCTOBER 27 – Today, the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association publishes the first edition of the ‘State of the Belgian Data Centers’ report. The report provides an overview of the Belgian data center market. The main focus of the report is colocation data centers and the key trends that will shape the Belgian data centers landscape in the coming years. The BDIA publishes the report at their first partner event in Affligem.
The digital economy is an integral part of everyday life. Both to consumers and businesses, digital services are becoming increasingly essential for daily tasks. In the greater perspective, society is only at the beginning of the digital evolution, and this will further develop in the coming years. To cope with the surge of digitization, the industry needs a solid foundation in the form of a robust digital infrastructure.
Research on the Belgian data center market
The State of the Belgian Data Centers report provides a quantitative and qualitative overview of the Belgian data center market, and an overview of the growth trends the sector is experiencing. The focus is primarily on colocation data centers. Additionally, the report also quantifies enterprise data centers, as well as hyperscale data centers.
The research estimates that the Belgian data center market counts 27 colocation providers, with about 44 data center facilities. Together the net surface, or data floor, of these data centers is around 52.900 m2, and they provide a maximum of 85 Megawatts. Most data center space is located around the Brussels capital region. Hyperscale is growing quite strongly in Belgium, requiring about 90 MW. The enterprise data centers still make up more than 50% of the sector, with about 220 MW. A decade ago, more than 75% of the IT capacity belonged to enterprise data centers. Thus, similarly to other countries, Belgium is experiencing a trend away from small server rooms to colocation data centers and hyperscale data centers.
Belgium in demand for colocation and hyperscale data centers
The Belgian data center market is up and coming. Belgium is located in the middle of the biggest European data center hubs of London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris. It is home to the European Commission and European Parliament. And it is right in the center of the most densely populated area of Europe. Belgium is home to one of the biggest hyperscale data center campuses in Europe and is gaining traction as a location for international colocation and hyperscale data centers. In the meantime, domestically oriented data centers are in a process of consolidation and professionalization to cater to the demand of an economy and society that is digitizing rapidly.
The increasing growth of the data center sector comes with responsibility. Data centers take their responsibility by constantly developing their sustainability measures. Next to an overview of the market, the report attempts to quantify how big the footprint of the sector is and which developments can be seen within the sector in terms of sustainability.
The report can be downloaded on the website of the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association. LINK
About the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association
Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association (BDIA) is the organization that promotes leading companies from the digital infrastructure ecosystem in Belgium. BDIA demonstrates leadership by facilitating and encouraging members to implement operational improvements in the form of best practices. The BDIA promotes the sector and contributes to technical standards, which enable the data center industry in Belgium and abroad to further distinguish itself. BDIA promotes Belgium as an international data hub. BDIA also collaborates with market operators, other interested parties. Furthermore, BDIA actively collaborates with European trade associations to strengthen the digital infrastructure industry as a whole.