5 rules to ensure data centres benefit everyday Malaysians
America ran the great data centre experiment first, and the results are in: Where governments designed well, residents got tax cuts and new schools; where they did not, families got power bill shocks. Malaysia still gets to choose which of those households it puts its rakyat in.
Malaysia's data centre boom is expected to generate RM144.4 billion in investments between 2021 and mid-2025, but concerns remain about their impact on water usage, electricity consumption, and job creation. The example of the United States shows that data centres can cause electricity price surges and few job opportunities. Malaysian policymakers look to America's experiences for guidance, outlining five rules to ensure the benefits of the data centre boom reach ordinary Malaysians.
Making data centres pay for what they consume, conserving water, taxing them fully, locating them on industrial estates, and highlighting the true nature of job creation are the key tenets of this strategy.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- 5 rules to ensure data centres benefit everyday Malaysians freemalaysiatoday.com
