The Norwegian data center industry

The data centre industry has experienced strong growth in Norway over recent years. Increasing demand for digital computing power, public strategies and analyses of economic ripple effects suggest further investments and a rise in jobs in the years ahead. At the same time, there is limited systematic knowledge about what characterises the industry and the data centre sector already established in Norway.

Fafo is therefore conducting a research project on the data centre industry in Norway. The project aims to explore and describe the sector by mapping different types of data centres and their associated value chains.

Two overarching themes are central: work and the actors.

The project will, among other things, investigate:

What kinds of data centres exist in Norway? How can the data centres be categorised? Who are the most important actors?
What are the characteristics of jobs in the Norwegian data centre industry?
- How many jobs are there in the sector today? How has this changed over time?
- How are jobs distributed across the various phases of development and different parts of operations?
- What types of jobs are these, and what are their characteristics in terms of competency requirements, forms of affiliation, and pay and working conditions?
What can this tell us about the data centre industry as part of Norwegian working and business life today?
What do we need more knowledge about?

The project is co-financed by Abelia, NHO Elektro, Norsk Industri, EL og IT Forbundet, Norsk Arbeidsmandsforbund, NITO and Tekna.