Arcadis, a leading company delivering data-driven sustainable design, engineering and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, today announced the launch of its Data Center Growth Lab, a new Lovinklaan Foundation-funded program designed to equip nearly 1,500 Arcadians with the skills needed to deliver the data centers that underpin the global digital economy.

Delivered through a strategic partnership with DCD Academy, the training platform of DatacenterDynamics (DCD), the program will build a global pipeline of data center-ready talent across Arcadis.

By increasing the number of people able to support data center clients, the initiative is designed to convert strong market demand into delivery capacity, helping Arcadis pursue growth in one of the fastest-growing infrastructure markets. Demand for cloud services, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and digital services are increasing the need for specialist skills across the sector.

The Data Center Growth Lab forms part of Arcadis’ wider growth strategy, focused on strengthening capabilities in markets where clients face complex investment, delivery and sustainability challenges. For Arcadis, the investment links employee development directly to commercial opportunity: more trained people means greater capacity to bid for, win and deliver data center work in markets where speed, technical confidence and sector knowledge are increasingly important to clients.

Data centers are a growing part of Arcadis’ Places business, with strong activity across Europe, the UK and the US, supported by demand from hyperscale, colocation and developer/operator clients.

Through the program, Arcadis will train approximately 300 people in 2026, 500 in 2027 and 700 in 2028 and will support both foundation-level training and more specialist pathways, including technical disciplines relevant to live data center programs. The phased approach is intended to scale capability in line with market demand, giving Arcadis a larger pool of data center specialists to deploy across client programs.

Unlike a traditional awareness program, the Data Center Growth Lab is designed to create practical delivery capacity. It will help identify people with transferable skills, provide structured industry training, and support their move into data center work where Arcadis is seeing sustained demand. This makes the initiative both a talent development program and a commercial growth lever, helping the business expand capacity without relying solely on external hiring in a competitive skills market.

Christian Goldsmith, data center global solutions lead, Arcadis, said: “The Data Center Growth Lab will help us build the skills and capacity needed to support clients in a market that is expanding quickly and becoming more complex. Data centers are essential infrastructure for the digital economy, but their delivery depends on people with the right technical knowledge and sector understanding.

"By investing in our people, we are also investing in Arcadis’ ability to grow in this market, respond to client demand at scale and deliver more of the programs that will shape the next phase of digital infrastructure.”

Lovinklaan Foundation, Arcadis’ largest shareholder and a foundation led and managed by Arcadians, is funding the program to support employee development and strengthen future-focused skills across the business.

DCD Academy will provide structured training content and a workforce development platform designed to help organizations build data center skills at scale, identify skills gaps and track progress. The program will include a foundation pathway of approximately 40 hours, delivered in modular form, alongside specialist pathways for people moving into more technical roles.

Dan Loosemore, CEO, DatacenterDynamics, said: “The data center industry needs more people equipped with the next generation of skills as the sector evolves. Our partnership with Arcadis is focused on helping experienced professionals build the sector knowledge they need to contribute quickly and confidently to data center projects, both now and in the future. It is a strong example of how targeted training can help close the industry’s talent gap.”

To find out more about Arcadis, visit www.arcadis.com. To find out more about DCD Academy please visit https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/dcdacademy.