Children’s books and school trips: the data centre industry sets out to win over schoolchildren

In response to the protests, stakeholders in the sector are stepping up site visits, distributing educational packs in classrooms and even producing a children’s picture book. An education policy researcher sees this as corporate propaganda.

While opposition to large data centers campuses is growing in the United States, part of the sector relies on a softer strategy: to seduce children. Wired identifies several initiatives. 7x24 Exchange International recommends an album, "What is a Data Center?", where a spleen named Honey visits an employee-led data centre. In May, AFCOM's Potomac section, a professional organization in the sector, funded flag-making kits for Memorial Day, distributed to 3,100 CP students in 37 schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, known as the "Data Center Alley", along with a card to promote industry benefits.

School districts have also been organizing visits to Microsoft, Vantage, Yahoo or Sabey for years, and Amazon has opened a "Skills Center" in Arlington dedicated to cloud. All in a tense climate: According to a Pew survey of 10,000 Americans in the summer, about half consider data centers rather harmful to the environment and quality of life.

An old scenario

For Alex Molnar, professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center, the process takes on an ancient pattern, already used by fast food, tobacco or hydrocarbons: bringing the company's story to school. The Committee believes that children should be protected from such influence without any means of critical regression.