MURMANSK, November 9. /TASS/. Deploying data processing centers in Russia's Arctic regions has natural competitive advantages, including lower costs of cooling due to average annual temperatures and cheap electricity to ensure their operation, Doctor of Economics, leader of the Expert Council on Arctic Development at the St. Petersburg Committee on Foreign Relations Alexey Fadeev told TASS.
In October, Yandex, VK and Sberbank's data centers were attacked. On November 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on measures to support information resources. According to the document, private data centers should reserve 10% of their capacity for cases where it is necessary to ensure operation of the most important domestic information resources.
"The deploying of Russian data processing centers in the Arctic has its advantages, including natural ones, such as low temperatures and cheap electricity, and the recent events, related to attacks on infrastructures of our IT giants, make us take a fresh look at the situation with digital sovereignty and digital security. At the same time, it fully complies with the global strategic line for development of the Arctic, the northern territories and the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor," the expert said.
Natural advantages
About half of data centers' operating costs are related to their cooling, which requires very powerful units, he continued. "In the Arctic, part of this issue is solved naturally due to the low annual average temperatures, simply by passing cold air through the data center sections. This is very profitable in terms of operating costs. The second advantage is cheap electricity. For example, the Kola NPP operating in the Murmansk Region, can build up the capacity if necessary, plus using various kinds of green projects: wind power, hydropower, which may be used specifically in the Arctic. Besides, a floating nuclear power plant has been operating in Chukotka," he added.
The expert also pointed to another natural advantage of deploying data processing centers in the Russian Arctic - the rocky terrain, which obstructs possible attacks on data centers' infrastructures. "The terrain is quite complex and it is a natural protection, that is, it is quite difficult to hit, say, with some unmanned aircraft any data processing centers that are hidden in rocks, and this is another factor of the Arctic's advantage," he stressed.
Digital sovereignty development
By deploying data processing centers in the Arctic, the country also ensures the hosting region's digital sovereignty: connecting remote territories, ensuring the Northern Sea Route safety, developing telemedicine, and the fast Internet.
"This integrated deployment of data processing centers in the Arctic will allow diversifying and decentralizing them, which is another step to creating an extensive, efficient model. Simultaneously, solving this problem has multiple multiplicative effects associated with positive solutions for residents of the northern regions," the expert said in conclusion.