Kao Data has developed the Kao Academy to engage primary and early secondary school-aged children with data centres and their role in society.

The academy was created in collaboration with Cambridge Science Centre, and according to Kao, will help teach children aged 7-11 about how data centres are designed and constructed, as well as explaining their importance to our everyday lives.

Its ultimate goal is to promote an active interest in science and engineering, potentially encouraging children into future careers within the industry to try to ameliorate the data centre skills shortage – which will only become more of challenge as the Uptime Institute estimates staff requirements within the sector will grow to almost 2.3 million by 2025.

The academy will be accessible via an interactive website, which will provide a number of resources to learners, including a live ‘data-crunching’ game and a downloadable ‘how-to’ pack which children can download to build their own data centre.

Participants will also be able to take part in a competition to design their own data centre, potentially winning £150 of LEGO and a visit to the Kao Data campus in Harlow.

“Data centres are today instrumental to our way of life – they underpin many of our daily activities, support our work, entertainment, retail and financial choices, facilitate human inter-communication and were fundamental in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Adam Nethersole, Vice President, Kao Data.

“Despite all of this, general understanding and appreciation of data centres is surprisingly low. Starting with children, and through the Kao Academy, our mission is to drive greater awareness of data centres, their crucial role, and showcase the people who design, build, and operate them.”