MUSSE

Monash Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Edwina Cornish, Fujitsu Australia Group Executive Director Joel O’Halloran, Univerisity of Melbourne Provost Professor John Dewar and Vice-Chancellor of RMIT Professor Margaret Gardner

The University of Melbourne in collaboration with Monash University and RMIT University and Fujitsu Australia have entered into a collaborative venture to develop a shared data centre.

This data centre will make a significant contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by storing data from the three institutions at one site, instead of at multiple smaller sites.

Launched at the University on Wednesday 7 October the data centre has been built in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. It will cut energy use through improved design and use of the latest energy efficient technology.

University of Melbourne Provost, Professor John Dewar, said the shared data centre was a win-win situation for the universities and the environment.

“Our commercial, technical and legal teams have worked closely together to achieve this outcome, which brings considerable savings, the opportunity to increase data centre capacity in a more flexible and rapid way as demand increases, as well as substantial energy efficiency and sustainability,” he said.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the ICT sector are forecast to increase from 2 per cent in 2009 to 6 per cent by 2020 as a proportion of global total emissions, according to Fujitsu’s research report “Green ICT: The State of the Nation”.

The facility will serve some 200,000 students and staff – a population greater than that of Ballarat and Bendigo combined.

The first stage of the data centre is now under-going set-up and the universities will move in by January 2010. Expansion of this facility will be commissioned in 2011. Expected rising demand will be met by an increase of 100 square metres of space per year.