Reykjavík 2023

Datacenter Changemakers Iceland
Episode 1

Live talk show with the people who are changing the face of the data center industry, hosted & moderated by Liselotte Lyngsø, Founder of Future Navigator.

Iceland: The Nordic’s Key to Becoming the Sustainable Digital Backbone of Europe

Amid the global urgency for sustainable digital infrastructure, the Nordics have emerged as quintessential players in pioneering green data center solutions. Iceland, strategically located between Europe and North America, has become a crucial hub for subsea cabling and innovation, enhancing connectivity across continents. Moreover, with its abundant renewable energy, the nation presents a cost-effective, sustainable energy matrix for data centers. This segment explores the balance of harnessing the Nordics and Iceland's potential to enhance digital infrastructure and economic development, while ensuring it is rooted in sustainability, collaboration, security, and community support.

Special guest:

Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson – President of Iceland

The panel:
 

Þorvarður Sveinsson – CEO, Farice

Björn Brynjulfsson – Chairman, Data Centers by Iceland

Haraldur Hallgrímsson – Director of Business Development, Landsvirkjun

Building and Operating Data Centers for a Sustainable Tomorrow Together

Sustainability in data centers has become a pressing concern, driven by customer demands, impending legislation, and investor expectations. Iceland’s data center industry is booming and minimizing their carbon footprint becomes even more important topic. We all need to stop and think holistically about data center sustainability to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations. This presentation will deep dive into 5 pillars of comprehensive data center sustainability strategy and will show how Schneider Electric, in partnership with Origo, can support you throughout your sustainability journey.

Heading North: A Journey of True Cost and CO2 Savings

Workloads are growing at breakneck speed for every industry with the increasingly critical role of data-intensive technology, from AI to machine learning. This digitalization is placing pressure on many facets of business operations, from IT to sustainability, while cost efficiencies and carbon improvements top boardroom agendas at the same time. As a global provider of geophysical marine services, Shearwater’s expert imaging technology and processing software provides high-quality sensor imaging and seismic data analysis. As we have continued to acquire and operate high performance workloads at a much greater scale, we needed a reliable partner that could host its data-intensive workloads and processing equipment, meeting high-capacity compute demands with an environmentally responsible approach. In this session, we will outline the critical importance of location when it comes to the future of housing data and workloads, drawing on key points as to why the Nordics remain the safest bet. We will also outline the transformation, from initial challenges to the benefits and opportunities, that Shearwater has experienced in migrating its equipment from a data center site in the UK to atNorth's state-of-the-art ICE02 facility in Iceland.

Helping Wirth Research Deliver Innovation at Zero Carbon Cost

Wirth Research is an engineering, design technology, and advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) consultancy. CFD is extremely power-intensive, but Wirth Research’s mission to help industry customers solve energy consumption issues and improve efficiencies meant it wanted to practice what it preached. The solution was found by relocating its high intensity compute to Verne Global’s data center campus in Iceland.

Datacenter Changemakers Iceland
Episode 2

Live talk show with the people who are changing the face of the data center industry, hosted & moderated by Liselotte Lyngsø, Founder of Future Navigator.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

From ChatGPT to DALL-E, AI and machine learning are evolving at a rapid pace, which is having a tangible impact on data center operations and IT management. This impact is two-fold: within the data centers themselves – as AI and machine learning are applied to everything from energy and optimization, to cooling and resource management – but also on the IT loads that continue to grow as AI applications both require and generate ever-increasing amounts of data. How will the development of AI and advances in machine learning continue impact data center operators and digital infrastructure providers? And what should we expect to see within the Icelandic market moving forward? Moreover, how will novel applications of AI and machine learning continue to grow, such as with projects seeking to preserve the Icelandic language?

Guests include:

Mike Allen – COO, Verne Global

Helga Waage – CTO & Co-founder, Mobilitus

Jóhanna Vigdís Guðmundsdóttir – Consultant & Member, Nordic Ethical AI Expert Group

Hanna Kristín Skaftadóttir – Program Leader, Business Intelligence & Assistant Professor, Bifröst University

Navigating the Top CIO & CTO Challenges in Today's Volatile Landscape

As enterprise and government CIOs and CTOs grapple with an increasingly complex environment, they must not only expand their infrastructure platforms and adapt to hybrid IT and multicloud solutions, but also tackle geopolitical polarization, supply chain disruptions, inflation, climate change, and labor/skills shortages. To thrive, tech leaders must devise innovative business models and unlock fresh revenue streams. Join us for an insightful talk show that addresses the core challenges CIOs and CTOs face today:

✅ Sustainability: Address the "elephant in the server room" – Scope 3 emissions – and understand the emerging policies, legislation, and regulation demanding greener infrastructure.

✅ Cost Management & Optimization: Leverage hybrid IT and multicloud solutions for cost savings, even during economic downturns, and appease CFOs seeking cloud ROI.

This talk show is tailor-made for CIOs and CTOs looking to excel in their roles amid evolving challenges. Don't miss this opportunity to gain invaluable insights that will empower you to navigate today's volatile landscape and transform your organization.

Guests include:

Smári McCarthy – Founder, Ecosophy

Lars Lindegaard – Sales Director, IBM Infrastructure

Eva Soley Gudbjornsdottir – Deputy CEO & CFO, atNorth

Þóra Rut Jónsdóttir – Director of Sustainability, Advania Iceland

István Végh-Sigurvinsson, LL.D. – Compliance, Data Protection and Sustainability Officer, Borealis Data Center

Solving Today's Sustainability Challenges with Borealis Data Center and IBM: Eco-Resilience in the Cloud

Companies are increasingly looking for sustainable cloud services, such as those offered by IBM and Borealis Data Center, for a combination of compelling reasons. These services help reduce carbon footprints by using energy-efficient technologies and renewable sources, align with ESG goals, lower operational costs, enhance resilience and reputation, and future-proof businesses as sustainability becomes a crucial part of corporate strategy. Sustainable hybrid cloud services are not only environmentally responsible, but also financially and strategically advantageous, making them a smart choice for forward-thinking organizations.

Co-presenter: Halldór Már Sæmundsson, CCO at Borealis Data Center

The Cloud is Not in the Sky

Data centers are now as crucial to all infrastructure as roads, railways, and airports. And with the ongoing green and digital transformation, the need for data centers will continue to increase. Yet, the sustainability of IT infrastructure itself is just as important as the benefits that technology can have on our day-to-day lives. This presentation will connect the technologies we are all using and relying on – both in our daily lives and at work – with the physical IT and energy infrastructure that underpins those technologies. The session will also offer perspective and insight into how data center and digital infrastructure professionals can introduce and explain the sector to the public and attract talent, as it is a growing industry with many opportunities that requires diverse expertise, all while offering a rewarding purpose: building a sustainable digital backbone for the world.

Datacenter Changemakers Iceland
Episode 3

Live talk show with the people who are changing the face of the data center industry, hosted & moderated by Sigríður Mogensen, Director of Industries and IP at Samtök iđnađarins – SI (the Federation of Icelandic Industries).

Ask Me Anything: Meet the People Building the Sustainable Internet of the Future

One of the biggest challenges that many companies across the data center and digital infrastructure sector face includes attracting and retaining talent. In this Ask Me Anything town hall-style session, anyone interested in pursuing a new career can ask our guests about the data center industry, its careers and opportunities, and the role IT infrastructure in Iceland can play in building a sustainable digital backbone for the world. We will also explore how the industry can attract more talent by focusing on diversity, inclusion, and social governance. 

Guests include:

Bastiaan Janssen – Managing Director, EPI

Eyrún Linnet – CTO & Co-founder, SNERPA Power

Paula Gould – Founder & Lead Consultant, Float and gather ehf. & Co-founder, WomenTechIceland

Startups, Scaleups, and Innovation in IT Infrastructure

Datacenter Forum Reykjavík introduces the most-promising Icelandic startups and scaleups in the digital infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.

The startups:

Bara tala –  represented by Jon Gunnar Thordarson, CEO

Hringvarmi – represented by Dr. Alexandra Leeper and Justine Vanhalst, Co-founders

Keystrike – represented by Dr. Ymir Vigfusson, CTO & Associate Professor at Emory University

The panel:

Ásta Sóllilja Guðmundsdóttir – CEO, KLAK – Icelandic Startups

Bala Kamallakharan – Founder, Startup Iceland