Telehouse launches educational initiative featuring character ‘DC’ to enhance public understanding of data centres and their impact on digital lives.

20 January 2025 – A significant portion of the UK public is unaware of the critical role data centres play in their daily digital lives, new research from Telehouse has revealed. Despite the increasing reliance on digital services and their recent categorisation by the government as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), 67% of UK consumers admit they do not know what a data centre is or does.

The survey, which involved over 2,000 UK consumers, identifies a significant gap in public understanding. While 48% of respondents believe data centres positively impact the digital services they use at home and work, such as video streaming and online shopping, there remains a substantial knowledge gap about the scale and scope of data centre operations. Nearly half (43%) of the respondents are unaware of the vast number of people, applications, and data supported by these facilities.

Telehouse’s findings also highlight a mixed perception of data centres’ importance in the context of remote working, a trend that has surged in recent years. While 59% see data centres as critical to enabling remote work, 19% are unsure how these facilities support such activities, and 15% consider them not very critical or not critical at all.

The study underscores the public’s partial understanding of data centres, with misconceptions about their roles. In an effort to bridge this knowledge gap, Telehouse has launched an educational initiative featuring a character named ‘DC.’ Through an engaging video, DC aims to demystify data centres, explaining their functions and significance in everyday technology use.

Mark Pestridge, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Telehouse Europe, commented on the initiative: “We realise there’s a significant knowledge gap regarding data centres and their impact on digital lives. By introducing ‘DC,’ we hope to educate people about the critical work done in data centres and inspire our future generations to consider careers in this field. We also hope that bridging this knowledge divide may be key to increasing trust in the digital infrastructure that underpins our connected lives.”

Telehouse’s commitment extends to supporting education and career development in the technology sector, offering apprenticeships and work experience opportunities to young people. The company also advocates for more educational programs focused on data centre technologies in schools and universities.

For more information on the crucial role of data centres and to watch Telehouse’s educational video featuring the ‘DC’ character, visit their website.

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About Telehouse

Telehouse is a leading global data centre service provider, bringing together more than 3,000 business partners including carriers, mobile and content providers, enterprises, and financial services companies.

Established in 1989, Telehouse provides reliable, secure, and flexible colocation, enabling organisations to accelerate speed to market and create business opportunities through fast, efficient, and secure interconnections.

The Telehouse London Docklands campus is Europe’s most connected data centre campus. The organisation is a driving force for sustainability in the data centre industry and powers its data centres with electricity from 100% renewable sources. For more information, visit: Telehouse.

Research Methodology:

“Connecting Lives” research was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Telehouse, among a sample of 2,013 nationally representative UK consumers (aged 18+). The data was collected between 10.07.2024 – 12.07.2024.