Community collaboration and transparency - key to data centre success in the AI era

Edgar Van Essen, Managing Director, CCO and Partner for Switch Datacenters, outlines a dramatic decline in water use, new cooperative stakeholder models including green residual heat exchange networks, and a clear pathway to reach net-positive impact by 2040, as reported in the company’s 2025 Sustainability Report. With plans for six new builds and more, Edgar highlights how Switch Datacenters is growing its footprint to over 1GW capacity in the coming years while supporting local societies and economies and ensuring the minimum possible impact on the environment. He also explains how the data centre industry can transform its image by pursuing deep integration with local communities and value chains, through collaboration with municipalities, grid operators, and local stakeholders from the earliest planning stages.