The Belgian data center market is facing rising energy demand, AI-driven infrastructure requirements, pressure to improve sustainability, and concerns about digital sovereignty. Silvie Bullen, Account Manager for Belgium and Luxembourg at R&M, and Carole Santens, Managing Director of the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association, share their perspectives on these developments. They discuss the impact of AI, energy capacity, collaboration, and Belgium’s position within the evolving European data landscape, where sovereignty, regulation, and the local ecosystem are becoming increasingly important.
From the perspective of BDIA members: where do the biggest challenges lie? Where do organizations need to start doing things differently?
Carole Santens: The challenge depends heavily on where you are in the ecosystem, because the BDIA represents a wide range of stakeholders, and their roles differ significantly.
From an operator’s perspective, energy is currently the biggest challenge. Finding physical space is often less difficult than securing sufficient energy capacity. The power grid is congested, and there is a waiting list for connections. Furthermore, it is not always easy to provide accurate and reliable demand forecasts. Public perception also plays a role. Data centers are often viewed solely as major energy consumers, even though they also create significant economic and digital value in return.
Within the partner ecosystem, there is a clear willingness to address these energy constraints by finding ways to use less energy, use energy more intelligently, or optimize its use. That is precisely why collaboration is so crucial. Stakeholders from across the ecosystem must be able to connect and work together. Interestingly, even competitors are open to discussions about how they can improve and scale up, because the pace of change is so rapid. People understand that you can’t solve these problems alone. The Belgian ecosystem is particularly strong at facilitating this kind of collaboration.
Silvie Bullen: At R&M, we focus on Layer 1 of the OSI model—the infrastructure itself—and work closely with installers. It’s also always valuable to hear directly from end customers and distributors.
We supply racks, cabinets, enclosures, distribution frames, incoming fiber-optic cables, cable trays, patch cables, and connectors. We do not supply cooling systems ourselves, but it is essential that we work closely with companies that do in order to deliver the most efficient and cost-effective total solution. That is why we have in-house experts who understand how data centers operate from start to finish.
Carole Santens: Optimizing workloads is a key part of the solution. Not everything needs to run at peak performance all the time. The real question is how we can plan workloads more intelligently and reduce peak demand.
Most data centers are already actively investing in renewable energy and contributing to a more resilient energy system. But in addition to workload optimization and efficiency, there’s another key word: collaboration. End users, operators, energy companies, and other stakeholders must align on smarter and more sustainable ways of working.
When it comes to sustainability, I always come back to a saying that clearly captures the issue: “When the last tree has been cut down, when the last river has been poisoned, when the last fish has been caught, we will discover that we cannot eat money.” A powerful reminder that sustainability is not an option, but fundamental to long-term value creation.
Silvie Bullen: Sustainability is central to our internal operations. Since 2016, we have conducted annual eco-assessments and hold an EcoVadis Gold rating. In addition to reducing our environmental impact and improving circularity, we also place a strong emphasis on social engagement, diversity, and equality. For us, good business ethics also means embedding sustainability throughout the entire supply chain and broader value chain.
Sustainability is more than just a goal—we see it as an integral part of our design and collaboration process. As a manufacturer, we focus on solutions that optimize cabling and network architecture, which can significantly reduce energy requirements for cooling. But we know we can’t do this alone. That’s why we actively collaborate with partners—data center operators, integrators, and other technology providers—to identify bottlenecks, implement energy-efficient designs, and jointly explore innovative cooling strategies.
