The digital evolution of Campinas: the city becomes a frequent destination for the construction of data centers

The Metropolitan Region of Campinas is undergoing a profound transformation in its technology market. The main reason is the constant search for artificial intelligence tools and cloud computing services. The region has been known for years as the main technology hub in Brazil and, now, it has become a frequent choice in the construction of new data centers (large facilities that house supercomputers intended for data processing).

The interior of São Paulo attracts this interest because it has high-speed and quality internet, as well as being close to the capital and having great universities. Therefore, neighboring cities such as Sumaré, Vinhedo and Hortolândia are receiving new data complexes with billion-dollar investments. All this movement transformed Greater Campinas into one of the main data storage centers in Latin America.

One of the great challenges of this digital evolution is that it needs a very strong physical base to function. The supercomputers used for artificial intelligence are extremely powerful and consume much more electricity than ordinary servers. This started a race against time to modernize the substations and cables that carry energy to companies, as the problem is not the lack of electricity in the country, but rather the ability to deliver all this electricity to the Campinas region.

Furthermore, large global technology companies demand that all this energy comes from clean sources, such as the sun and wind. There is also a concern about water, as these computers get very hot and traditional systems use liquid to cool the machines.

In order not to burden the supply of cities, companies are resorting to adopting systems that use the air itself to cool or that reuse used water. The future of Campinas will directly depend on the speed with which the government and energy companies are able to adapt the region’s electrical networks.