Data Centers: Market Trends and Contribution to the World Economy Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic

AbstractThe chapter investigates trends in the global data center market in the context of data centers as drivers of inclusive economic and social growth, enhancing business and social communication in the world economy, which has become distinct during the pandemic lockdowns. Regardless of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the data center market is experiencing an acceleration in demand for data center services, cloud services, in the first place. The study identifies the following main trends in the global data center market: consolidation in the data center industry arising from M&As, that grow in number and increase in transaction values; a growth in hyper-scale data centers; formation by large-scale companies their global data center networks by transnationalization of activities to optimize their functions and reduce operating costs. The Russian data center market is classified as emerging, with its growth rates outstripping the global market in 2020. The contributors reveal several current trends in its development that, on the one hand, are consistent with global trends, but, on the other, have national specifics, involving the dominance of the capital cities in the regional structure of the data center market, with the predicted stability of this trend at least in the short term.KeywordsData centerHyperscale data centerGlobal data center networksInclusive growthIndustry 4.0The COVID-19 pandemicJEL CodesO1L86L14F23F01