IPCEI-CIS: IONOS takes part in EU project to develop modern cloud and edge computing technologies

Brüssel / Berlin /Karlsruhe, 12 December 2023. On 5 December 2023, the European Commission approved the strategic funding project IPCEI-CIS (Important Projects of Common European Interest – Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services). The aim of the project is to develop joint concepts and an initial industrial deployment for modern cloud and edge computing technologies. One of the project partners is European cloud and hosting provider, IONOS.  As part of the project, the company will create solutions for the energy-efficient operation of data centres and for the management of workloads in distributed cloud-edge infrastructures. The IONOS sub-project has a value of 16.9 million euros and is being funded with 6.8 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. 

Project contributes to digital sovereignty and EU climate targets 

The IPCEI-CIS consists of a total of 19 projects and is the first IPCEI in the field of cloud and edge computing. The project not only aims to promote digital innovation in Europe and strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty but also contribute to the EU’s sustainability goals. It fits in with European initiatives such as the European Data Strategy, the Digital Compass 2030 and the European Green Deal. The project period is planned for 2023 to 2026; the member states will provide up to 1.2 billion euros for IPCEI-CIS, which will be supplemented by a further 1.4 billion euros in private investment.

Federated and climate-neutral data processing – cloud and edge – in Europe 

The aim of IONOS’ contribution to the IPCEI-CIS framework is to optimise energy use in data centres. Globally, data centres are estimated to be responsible for up to 4% of electricity consumption and UK data centres alone currently have an energy requirement of around 2-3TWh2 per year. To implement its sub-project, IONOS will design data centres, edge nodes and micro clouds that can be set up close to energy suppliers and users of cloud infrastructures.  Open designs as well as workload and data space optimisations offer advantages for real-time applications in the cloud that require low latency and high speed.