Nicolas
Dr Nicolas Zehner is a postdoctoral researcher at the Collaborative Research Center 1265 “Re-Figuration of Spaces” at Technical University Berlin, as well as associated researcher at Weizenbaum Institute and HafenCity University. Nicolas holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Edinburgh. His research investigates the co-constitutive relationship between scientific knowledge production and urban development with a particular focus on higher education institutions.
Sessions
What if local communities operated their own data centres? How might that look and function? To what extent would it be democratic and sustainable? Who would (not) benefit from it?
In this workshop, we would like to think through, examine and discuss alternative models for the ownership and management of collective data centres. We will take a structured look at fundamental concepts, governance issues and implications, as well as discuss parallel ideas in other areas (cooperative banks or housing, community-supported agriculture) in the hope of initiating a broad discussion about alternatives to the profit and exploitation logic of the current data centre industry. Similar approaches to data centers that already exist include Nubo (Belgium), Espora (Mexico) and Wobcom (Germany).
What if local communities operated their own data centres? How might that look and function? To what extent would it be democratic and sustainable? Who would (not) benefit from it?
In this workshop, we would like to think through, examine and discuss alternative models for the ownership and management of collective data centres. We will take a structured look at fundamental concepts, governance issues and implications, as well as discuss parallel ideas in other areas (cooperative banks or housing, community-supported agriculture) in the hope of initiating a broad discussion about alternatives to the profit and exploitation logic of the current data centre industry. Similar approaches to data centers that already exist include Nubo (Belgium), Espora (Mexico) and Wobcom (Germany).