Grid congestion, data explosion and cooling: IT Infra event 2025 shows vulnerability of the Dutch digital backbone

Last week, it suddenly became headline news: cloud provider Solvinity may be ending up in American hands. IT service provider Kyndryl is considering acquiring the Dutch company, which would bring DigiD under US law. The issue exposes how dependent the Netherlands is on a reliable and well-functioning IT infrastructure. This was also evident during the IT Infrastructure event on November 26 in Den Bosch where data sovereignty was an important theme. 

"Data, energy, and cooling are the three pillars of this event," chairman Robert Scholten of Haskoning begins to a packed room. Scholten is clearly looking forward to the event, where he'll be introducing several colleagues and former colleagues. "Data focuses on two things: the increasing demand for data due to societal developments and new technologies like AI. When we think of energy, we immediately think of grid congestion, a sore point our sector has been struggling with for years but that hasn't been resolved yet. Cooling is closely linked to sustainability. How do we cool our servers in an environmentally friendly way and save our wallets at the same time?"

IT infrastructure continuously in the news
The first keynote speaker, Rob Stevens of Interconnect, can relate. Thirty years ago, the engineer and his brother founded a modest data center in their hometown of 's-Hertogenbosch. Since then, the company has grown into one of the largest in the sector, with multiple locations across the Netherlands. Stevens encourages his audience to take action. "How long is the waiting list for grid connections? The winner gets a prize." The audience gets to work using an app.

Meanwhile, Stevens displays news headlines that illustrate the daily challenges the sector faces. "Government intervenes in chip manufacturer Nexperia," "AI doubles data center power consumption," "The Dutch government is too dependent on American technology." And so on for several minutes.

Struggling with energy, cooling and privacy
Stevens offers insight into his own struggles with grid congestion, cooling, and data sovereignty. He recounts his heartbreak at having to turn down a client for the first time due to grid congestion. He also shares his pride that several residential areas in Brabant are heated with residual heat from "his" data centers. And he wins over the government, which still underestimates the dangers of cloud services and software being in the hands of foreign tech giants. "Choosing Europe is a strategic necessity to prevent data misuse."

After the exhibitor pitches, the audience moves on to the technical presentations in the parallel rooms. A range of current IT infrastructure topics will be addressed, from security in IT spaces and data centers through MV grid, gensets and renewables to sustainable renovation, cooling with rainwater and extended reach.

Endless hassle
Bret Baas's (Cable Concepts Center) presentation on Network 2.0 provoked a strong response from the audience. After a successful career at the RAI, the IT manager decided to change course after 25 years. His frustration with "endless cable fiddling" led to a "eureka" idea: Network 2.0. An efficient and cost-effective method for deploying networks. The promises? Reduced disruption to end-users with 80%, no copper usage, and drastically lower licensing costs. It made for a captivating presentation that was talked about for a long time.

Spicy discussion
After the lunch break, veteran William Heesbeen of Haskoning entered the plenary hall, much to the audience's delight. With a fresh perspective, he tackled a topic that has many on their minds: Direct Liquid Cooling. Where do we stand now? What are the developments, and what can we expect in the future? After a lively discussion, Ronald van den Bosch of NorthC Datacenters concluded the day with a fitting keynote address on the relationship between sustainability and data center growth. "Going green is great, but it must remain affordable" is the down-to-earth CTO's motto.

And what about that waiting list to connect to the electricity grid? It's at 14,000 businesses. Ramon Ooms was the closest and can proudly call himself the owner of a monopoly set in Den Bosch.

Pleasant and productive
It's a testament to the convivial and productive atmosphere at the event, which attracted an impressive 310 attendees. Were you there and would you like to reread the presentations at your leisure? This can be done via this linkWe do ask that you complete our short survey so we can tailor the event even better to the needs of our visitors.

We would like to thank our exhibitors, speakers and the chairperson for their dedication and enthusiasm.

See you next year in Den Bosch!