The Future of Data Centers

April 21, 2026
Georgia Tech Alumni House

This event was organized in partnership with the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) as a culmination to the Insights Series of events. It brought together people from academia, industry, government, and other organizations to discuss the future of data center sustainability, particularly from a social and policy lens, and to discuss methods to help ensure equitable growth where the rewards and costs associated with this massively growing industry are shared across populations and communities. This is particularly important, as many community discussions about data centers focus on water and energy sustainability, while overlooking issues of policy, social, and community sustainability. 

Panel:  "Global to Local: Learning from International Perspectives on Socially Sustainable Data Centers"
Panel:  "Community and Governmental Collaboration in Data Center Infrastructure"
Workshop:  "Data Centers, Energy & Sustainability: From Compute Rooms to Critical Infrastructure"

Confirmed panelists included:
* Peter Hubbard, Public Service Commissioner, State of Georgia
* Celine Benoit, Principal Planner with the Atlanta Regional Commission
* Donnie Beamer, Senior Technology Advisor, City of Atlanta
* Matthew Wesley Williams, Senior Vice President for Community Development,
   Marketing, and Communications at Groundswell
* Zachary Hansen, Economic Development & Commercial Real Estate reporter,
   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
* Cindy Lin, Assistant Professor, Georgia Tech
* Allen Hyde, Associate Professor, Georgia Tech

Demystifying Data Centers Insights Series #3: Sustainable Data Centers and the Community

April 13, 2026, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Virtual Only

This session explored the community, policy, and governance challenges created by the rapid growth of data centers across Georgia and globally. The goal was to equip Georgia Tech researchers with a clear understanding of:

• The lived impacts on communities
• Current debates in local/state policy arenas
• Regulatory and siting processes
• International models for responsible data center development
• Opportunities for research teams to shape evidence-based policy, community benefit strategies, and sustainability scorecards.

This conversation is crucial because Georgia is becoming a major hub for data center development. Communities, utilities, and policymakers are seeking guidance grounded in independent, interdisciplinary research—which positions Georgia Tech to lead.

This session helps Georgia Tech researchers identify pathways to contribute expertise in:

• Policy design
• Social science & community engagement & benefit agreements
• Setting frameworks and scenario analysis
• Sustainability certification/scorecards
• International comparisons and governance models

Speakers and Topics:

• Allen Hyde: Community Impacts, Public Debate, and Social Equity Considerations.
• Tony Harding: State of Georgia Trends
• Joe Bozeman: Planning perspectives: regional planning, infrastructure policy, economic development, etc.

Participants will gain:

• An understanding of community and policy research gaps in Georgia
• Visibility into global regulatory innovations and local applicability
• Opportunities to join or initiate interdisciplinary research teams
• Align with funding opportunities in sustainability, policy, resilience, and technology governance
• Foundation for a sustained community/policy working group within BBISS’s data center community of practice

Demystifying Data Centers Insights Series #2: Water

Friday, April 3, 10 - 11:30 AM
Teams Virtual Meeting – Link Provided Upon Registration

This session will introduce the technical landscape at the intersection of data centers and sustainability, with emphasis on resilient resource use. Our hope is that researchers quickly spot entry points for their expertise and identify collaborators for seed and external funding.

Our goals with this series and this session are to:

• Catalyze Georgia Tech faculty engagement (both new entrants and experienced researchers) in data center research, spark collaboration, to form and position teams for seed and large external funding opportunities.
• Educate Georgia Tech faculty on breadth of research problems at the intersection of data centers and sustainability (energy, water, communities, policy).
• Identify entry points so faculty can see where their expertise fits.
• Position BBISS and Georgia Tech as a hub for interdisciplinary data center sustainability research in a national landscape.

We want to help Georgia Tech researchers discover how their expertise aligns with the emerging research opportunities. This series will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and spark ideas for innovative solutions.

The webinar will be 60-90 minutes in length with short talks by each participant followed by discussion and Q&A.

Contributors to this session are:

• Akanksha Menon - Assistant Professor, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Director, Water - Energy Research Lab, Georgia Tech
• Brian Keel - Deputy Director of Engineering, Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority
• John Ikeda - Chief Mission Officer, Water Environment Federation (WEF)
• Ameet J. Pinto (Moderator) - Carlton S. Wilder Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech

Demystifying Data Centers Insights Series #1: Resource Intensity Trends

Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 12:30 – 2 PM
Teams Virtual Meeting – Link Provided Upon Registration

This session will introduce the technical landscape at the intersection of data centers and sustainability, with emphasis on resilient resource use. Our hope is that researchers quickly spot entry points for their expertise and identify collaborators for seed and external funding.

Our goals with this series and this session are to:

• Catalyze Georgia Tech faculty engagement (both new entrants and experienced researchers) in data center research, spark collaboration, to form and position teams for seed and large external funding opportunities.
• Educate Georgia Tech faculty on breadth of research problems at the intersection of data centers and sustainability (energy, water, communities, policy).
• Identify entry points so faculty can see where their expertise fits.
• Position BBISS and Georgia Tech as a hub for interdisciplinary data center sustainability research in a national landscape.

Contributors to this session are:

• Ahmed Saeed (CoC/CS): What is a data center today? Macro context of a data center and the AI–compute including the market and business decision for placement of data centers (10–15 min).
• Divya Mahajan (COE/ECE): Systems-level energy efficiency. Architectures, workload optimization, and platform-level levers setting the stage for a system-of-systems understanding and setting a foundation for discussion of resiliency and interactions of decisions (15 min).
• Asif Khan (COE/EDE): Physics & materials limits. Discusses technology drivers of resource intensity in data centers from transistors-to-rack energy dissipation, thermal realities, and materials/device innovation paths (15 min).
• Jean Carlos Hernandez-Mejia (NEETRAC): Georgia Tech testing facilities. Providing insight to what NEETRAC members are asking for with regards to technology development in supporting future data center growth (15 min).

GT National Lab Relations

Thursday, November 20, 2025 
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Speaker: George White, Sr Director, Strategic Partnerships, Chief Chips Strategy Officer, Office of the VPIR
Details: Price Gilbert Scholars Event Theater or virtual

Georgia State Relations

Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025    
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Speaker: Donald Kirkland, Director, State Relations, Office of Institute Relations
Details: Caddell Building Flex Space or virtual

Working with Institute Relations

Date: Thursday, October 2, 2025
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Speaker: Robert Knotts, Executive Director, Federal Relations, Office of Institute Relations
Details: Virtual Only

Get to Know the US EPA and the Water Research Foundation

Thursday, March 13, 2025, 2 - 3 PM EST (virtual)

This presentation will focus on familiarizing interested researchers with working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and The Water Research Foundation.

Panelists:

• Chris Impellitteri - Director of Research and Development, The Water Tower, formerly Associate National Program Director, US EPA
• Kristan VandenHeuvel - Director of Impact and Engagement, The Water Tower, formerly Research Manager, The Water Research Foundation

Insights into Private Foundation Funding

April 16,  2025, 2 - 3 PM EST (Virtual)

Kristine Haskett, Executive Director of Development, Foundation Relations, Georgia Tech