Half of Brits admit they still don’t know what a data center is Craig Hale | usagoldmines.com

• Just 52% of Brits are familiar with the concept of a data center
• Positive sentiments are down, while negative perception is up
• This report calls for greater transparency and public engagement

New research has revealed only one in two (52%) Brits are aware of the term data center, but despite growing awareness (with the figure up from 40% in 2024), three in five (59%) are still unsure about what a data center is or what it does.

Despite slow growth in awareness and a UK designation for data centers as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), fewer people believe data centers have a positive impact on the digital services they use both at home and in work.

Today, only 37% of British citizens see them as having a positive impact, down from 48% two years ago. On the flip side, negative perception has risen from 4% to 15% in the same period, the report from Telehouse found.

British citizens see data centers in a negative light

Among the biggest concerns is energy consumption, with more than half (56%) of the respondents worried about the amount of electricity these campuses use.

But with awareness of the concept in general rising year-over-year, Telehouse believes there’s scope to turn this awareness into understanding and confidence. “As an industry, we have a role to play in closing that gap by working more closely together, being more transparent, engaging openly with the public and communities and doing a better job of explaining the value data centres enable,” EVP and GM for Telehouse Europe, Mark Pestridge, explained.

The report indirectly alludes to the fact that worker and consumer AI use is disproportionate to education, which explains why public scrutiny may be accelerating more quickly.

When the UK government designated data centers as CNI, the then-Technology Secretary Peter Kyle described them as “the engines of modern life.”

“The objective now is helping people understand why data centres matter and how it supports everyone’s lives,” Pestridge added.