Development of Kainuu Data Center Ecosystem

CSC aims to strengthen significantly Finland's position and especially the role of the Kainuu region in the European and global high-performance computing (HPC) ecosystem. One of the EuroHPC supercomputers, LUMI will be located in CSC's data center in the City of Kajaani. LUMI will open a unique opportunity for Kainuu to develop its expertise and operations to an international level in AI, HPC and data center services. 

CSC’s data centers are located in Renforsin Ranta business area in Kajaani. The conditions to develop and expand the area further as data center location are excellent. The area offers thousands of square meters free space, low-cost and reliable green power and excellent connectivity to Europe. In addition, CSC has a proven track record to plan, implement and maintain big data centers in Kajaani. 

To develop the Kainuu data center ecosystem to a new improved level, CSC has established a new operational unit in September 2020 to Kajaani, which will use CSC´s networks and connections to actively recognize companies and organizations that could be interested in locating activities in Renforsin Ranta business area in Kajaani. To support this work two regional projects are started with the co-funding from the Regional Council of Kainuu and the City of Kajaani.  

The main goal of the projects is to strengthen the data center ecosystem in Kainuu by attracting new companies and investments to the Kainuu region. In practice, this means that new data center customers and data center service users are approached as main targets. During the projects, a model for customer solution process will be created and ecosystem customerships will be processed utilising the process model with local partners. In parallel to data center location and services sales, the projects are putting strong emphasis to develop the cooperation within local education and research organizations, companies and authorities.

CSC is responsible for the execution of the projects with significant self-financing share.