Overview

Our Digital Resource Demand Forecasting Tool provides policy makers with a data-driven methodology to project future requirements for computing, storage, and data transfer capacity (’digital resources’) across economic sectors through 2045. Unlike traditional infrastructure planning approaches focused solely on physical requirements, this tool quantifies the digital infrastructure needed to support specific digitalization goals at national and regional levels.

Tool Capabilities

The forecasting tool enables policy makers to:

1. Quantify Digital Resource Requirements by translating digitalization targets (such as "40% digitalization of manufacturing processes by 2035") into concrete infrastructure needs expressed as standard server equivalents

2. Model Sectoral Differences by accounting for varying digitalization patterns across economic sectors, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare to public services

3. Simulate Efficiency Scenarios to understand how technological improvements and software efficiency gains could reduce infrastructure requirements while achieving the same digitalization outcomes

4. Evaluate Regional Economic Impact by translating digital resource requirements into employment creation, tax revenue, and local economic activity metrics

Applications for Regional Policy Making

Strategic Infrastructure Planning

Regional development authorities can use the tool to determine optimal locations and capacities for data center clusters. By inputting regional economic composition data, policy makers can determine the precise digital resource requirements to support specific regional development goals.

Targeted Investment Attraction

Economic development agencies can utilize the tool's sector-specific projections to identify and attract digital infrastructure investors aligned with regional industrial strengths. For example, regions with strong healthcare sectors can demonstrate quantified demand for specialized digital resources supporting digital health applications.

Energy Planning Integration

The tool allows regional energy planners to anticipate power requirements for digital infrastructure, enabling better coordination between data center development and renewable energy capacity expansion. This supports integrated planning for power grid capacity, district heating opportunities, and sustainable energy supply.

Workforce Development Alignment

By providing granular projections of employment creation at each layer of the digital value chain, the tool helps workforce development agencies design targeted training programs that align with anticipated skill requirements for regional digital infrastructure.

Smart Specialization Strategies

The tool supports EU-aligned smart specialization approaches by helping regions identify their comparative advantages in the digital infrastructure landscape and develop policies that maximize value capture through specialized digital ecosystems.

Case Example: Rhine-Ruhr Regional Planning

When applied to the Rhine-Ruhr industrial region, our forecasting tool demonstrated that:

• The region's manufacturing-heavy economy would require approximately 235,000 standard server equivalents by 2035 to achieve target digitalization levels

• Creating regional data center clusters with integrated IT services could generate 3,400-12,500 high-skilled jobs depending on the value chain structure

• Coordinating digital infrastructure development with the region's energy transition could optimize both sectors while reducing overall costs

Implementation Process

Regional policy makers can implement the tool through a structured process:

1. Data Collection: Gather economic sector composition, current digitalization levels, and growth projections

2. Scenario Development: Define regional digitalization goals and strategy variants

3. Resource Calculation: Determine digital resource requirements for each scenario

4. Impact Analysis: Translate resource requirements into economic, energy, and spatial impacts

5. Policy Design: Develop targeted regulations, incentives, and coordination mechanisms

This forecasting methodology transforms abstract digitalization goals into concrete infrastructure requirements, enabling evidence-based digital infrastructure policies that maximize regional economic benefits while supporting sustainability objectives.