This award recognizes a company or individual who, in the view of the judges, has done the most over the past 12 months to build the profile of the data center industry to key stakeholder groups whether they be investors, shareholders, financiers, owners, operators, the media and/or government.

This year’s winner personifies not only the entrepreneurial approach to doing business but also the strong sense of social responsibility and environmental stewardship that we need to see more of.

He moved from shipping to data centers a decade ago and - with that logistics mentality - soon realized that connectivity would hold him and the rest of the country’s industry back, making it more difficult to unlock the full potential of Norway’s green energy opportunity. Rather than wait for consensus and government support he went ahead and used his own money - a novelty in the modern age - and built the first subsea cable connecting Norway to North America. The Havfrue cable was lit in October. All this is in parallel to his data center developments, one of which is the size of Central Park. Next, the Arctic.