In October 2024, Uptime Intelligence noted a trend for governments to classify data centers as critical national infrastructure (CNI), recognizing that their services are vital at all times, particularly in the aftermath of major incidents such as earthquakes, fires and floods.

The reasons for this are clear. Due to growing dependence on IT, data center failures can ripple through the financial, transportation and government systems, causing widespread chaos. By designating data centers as CNI, governments can provide support during crises. In the future, they could also set conditions designed to prevent failures — or to pursue other objectives.

At the same time, governments view data centers as drivers of economic growth, particularly in the current boom for AI infrastructure. They want to foster strong national data center markets in an increasingly competitive global landscape; CNI status is one way to channel public sector support into the industry.

While CNI status is expected to deliver favorable access to power and land, government support rarely comes without some conditions.

Data center operators receiving government support, even if informal, will increasingly be expected to make a significant contribution to the economy, operate with greater transparency, and comply with specific regulations, particularly those concerning resiliency and sustainability.

Some countries, such as the UK and Germany, have explicitly designated data centers as CNI, while others, such as the US, “implicitly” include certain data centers because they are essential to CNI-listed services such as telecommunications and finance. Singapore has also expanded the scope of its Cybersecurity Act to cover more data centers in its critical information infrastructure designation.

In some countries, CNI plans include communication services that rely on data centers.

Planning support

Governments around the world are strongly supporting AI, hoping to improve public services, drive economic growth and create new jobs. Some are achieving this through direct investment and sovereign wealth funds, while others are providing support through specific measures, such as the following:

• In January 2025 the UK government announced measures to support AI data centers at the planning stage. It has promised to establish AI Growth Zones, where data centers will receive preferential planning approval and access to power. The first zone is in the county of Oxfordshire, which is home to the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
• The UK is also giving specific support for data center operators in an overhaul of planning, designed to encourage the building of new homes and infrastructure. Local authorities will be required to prioritize data centers alongside public utilities in local development plans that guide their planning decisions. Additionally, facilities above a certain size will qualify as National Strategic Infrastructure, allowing them to bypass local planning altogether. Even before these new rules applied, in December 2024, the UK’s central government overruled two local authorities that had denied planning permissions to data centers.
• In the US, President Joe Biden issued executive order 14141, instructing Federal agencies to lease government-owned land for gigawatt-scale AI data center campuses, and demanded that operators of the clusters should source sufficient clean energy to power them. The Trump administration — which is notably less focused on clean energy — is promoting AI through its own measures, including support for the huge OpenAI Stargate project.

Regulations and transparency

Once a data center is designated as CNI, the operator will be subject to increased transparency requirements to provide government with the information needed to effectively include facilities in national contingency plans. For instance, planners might need to know the criticality of IT workloads at a facility to assess its priority for electricity or fuel during power cuts.

Measures to ensure the security and resiliency of infrastructure are already being stepped up around the world. For instance, the EU addresses cybersecurity risks with its Networks and Information Systems (NIS) Directive — data centers were added to the updated version, NIS 2, passed in early 2023 (see Are data centers on top of NIS 2 cyber compliance?). The adoption of NIS 2 or equivalent measures in other countries, such as the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill in the UK, means data centers will be subject to a regulator with powers to investigate, inspect and test facilities.

Other resiliency mandates include the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which applies to financial institutions in the EU.

In the US, some regulations are set to emerge as part of state-level sustainability and planning measures. For example, the proposed New York State Sustainable Data Centers Act would require data center operators to power their facilities with a share of renewable energy in line with the state’s climate goals and subsidize any extra energy costs to the community. The bill also proposes that construction of a facility should be preceded by at least two public hearings. Meanwhile, in Virginia, multiple bills are being discussed to address a range of data center issues, including planning, siting, on-site generation and tax incentives.

Drawbacks and objections

The precise meaning and implications of CNI or similar status vary by country and are often not disclosed to the public. Early experiences with data collection for the EU’s European Energy Directive have shown that some operators are uncomfortable sharing information. Large cloud service providers, in particular, protect their operational data as business confidential and have argued that releasing it would conflict with existing privacy agreements.

Increased government support is likely to result in stronger design and operation requirements for data centers, such as the use of sustainable power or participation in grid regulation mechanisms. These measures may be difficult or expensive to implement, especially in regions where grids are constrained.

For example, in the US, plans for world-leading AI campuses mandate that they are powered by clean power (or that fossil fuels with carbon capture). Additionally, the operators of these campuses must finance the necessary power infrastructure, and AI providers are required to apply “high labor standards and safeguards.” However, any change in government — in this case, from Biden to Trump — might present new challenges for investors and operators, such as a shift in design requirements that could have a huge cost implication.

Other related reports published by Uptime Institute include:
Critical national infrastructure status: what does it mean?