Data as a Sovereign Asset: Why Data Siting and Energy Strategy Define Shared Prosperity in a Multi-Polar World
By Dr. Charla Griffy-Brown, Director General and Dean, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University
In today’s multi-polar world, data has emerged as one of the most valuable sovereign assets a nation, or a city, can hold. Its storage, processing, and flow underpin not only economic growth but also geopolitical influence, national security, and societal well-being. The way we site, govern, and power data infrastructure has profound implications for prosperity, equity, and resilience.
I’ve seen these dynamics firsthand through recent work presented to the City of Phoenix and in a keynote address for the Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Association (SECA) in Zurich. In both contexts, whether discussing the explosive growth of data centers in the Arizona desert or Europe’s push toward renewable, efficient digital infrastructure, the same truth emerged, the data center business is fundamentally the energy business.
In a world where AI, cloud computing, and geopolitical competition are accelerating demand, our energy decisions will determine whether this transformation fosters shared prosperity or deepens global divides.
Data siting in a multi-polar world
Data sovereignty is no longer an abstract policy concern; it is a driver of strategic infrastructure investment. Nations and regions are increasingly treating data as a resource that must be protected, localized, and leveraged for national benefit. This shift reflects several converging trends:
- Geopolitical fragmentation – With data regulations diverging between the EU, China, the U.S., and emerging economies, multi-national organizations must navigate a patchwork of rules that dictate where and how data is stored.
- Security concerns – Cybersecurity threats and supply chain vulnerabilities are pushing governments to keep sensitive datasets within their jurisdiction.
- Economic competitiveness – Locating data processing close to end-users not only improves performance but also anchors high-value jobs and innovation ecosystems locally.
In the City of Phoenix, these trends are already playing out. Phoenix is now the fourth-largest North American data center market, with 602.8 MW of commissioned capacity, a 67% year-over-year growth rate and an exceptionally low 1.9% vacancy rate. Hyperscale operators like Microsoft, AWS, and Meta are building campuses of 100 MW or more, serving global AI and cloud workloads that cannot tolerate latency or downtime.
The question is not whether these facilities will be built, but where, how, and to whose benefit.
If we embrace integrated planning, cross-sectoral collaboration, and a commitment to shared prosperity, data can be more than just a competitive advantage. It can be the foundation of a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable global digital economy.
The data center–energy nexus
In my SECA keynote, I emphasized that data centers are not just digital infrastructure, they are energy infrastructure. Their siting and operation can shape the trajectory of regional energy transitions.
Phoenix’s experience illustrates this clearly. In 2023, Arizona’s data centers consumed 7.43% of the state’s electricity, with utility projections showing an additional 10,000 MW of demand by 2030 from contracted projects. Nationally, data centers could account for up to 12% of U.S. electricity demand by 2028.
This scale of consumption means that energy sourcing decisions renewable versus fossil, grid-connected versus on-site generation are inseparable from climate, resilience, and equity goals. Forward-looking operators are making bold commitments with Microsoft pledging zero-water cooling by 2026, Meta partnering with utilities on 450 MW of clean power, and CyrusOne deploying closed-loop systems that cut water usage to 180,000 gallons annually.
But in both Phoenix and Zurich, stakeholders recognized that the incentives, regulations, and partnerships guiding these investments are lagging behind the pace of technological and market change. Without proactive governance, the energy demands of the digital economy could outstrip the capacity of grids to decarbonize while maintaining reliability and affordability.
Lessons from Phoenix and Europe
Through our work at Thunderbird School of Global Management to develop a strategic roadmap for sustainable data center growth in Phoenix, we aimed to balance economic opportunity with quality of life and environmental stewardship, including performance-based incentives tied to measurable outcomes such as renewable energy procurement, water-use efficiency, and local job creation.
The work also draws on European best practices I discussed at SECA:
- Requiring district heating systems to reuse waste heat.
- Enforcing 100% renewable energy requirements for new facilities.
- Encouraging refurbishment hubs and enforcing stringent e-waste management regulations.
- Embedding social and environmental impact assessments into project approvals.
For instance, waste heat from data centers is converted from a liability to a community asset in Denmark by being pumped into municipal heating networks. Phoenix has the potential to adapt similar principles leveraging waste heat for industrial processes or district energy in high-density developments while also addressing its unique desert challenges.
AI acceleration and the energy equation
The surge in generative AI adoption has changed the equation for data infrastructure planning. AI training clusters require far higher power densities than conventional cloud workloads, leading to unprecedented campus-scale energy demands.
AI also intensifies the cybersecurity stakes. As AI models ingest and process massive datasets, the risks of data breaches, model poisoning, and algorithmic manipulation grow. In a multi-polar world, where adversaries can target infrastructure for strategic disruption, data center resilience must encompass both physical and cyber dimensions.
That means AI is not just using the energy and data infrastructure, it is actively shaping the need for more sophisticated, secure, and sustainable systems. The Phoenix roadmap incorporates these realities by calling for:
- Advanced cybersecurity and operational risk frameworks.
- Joint infrastructure task forces involving utilities, government, industry, and communities.
- Education pipelines to train a workforce in liquid cooling, high-voltage operations, and AI-driven automation.
Shared prosperity and access
Ultimately, the governance of data as a sovereign asset must go beyond efficiency metrics and revenue projections. It must ensure shared prosperity.
In Phoenix, that means tying tax incentives to local hiring, STEM scholarships, and fiber connectivity for underserved neighborhoods. In Europe, it means embedding community benefit agreements in every major project. In both contexts, it means recognizing that the digital divide is an infrastructure divide—and that inclusive access to digital infrastructure is as essential as access to roads, water, and electricity.
There is also a global justice dimension. If advanced economies monopolize the cleanest, most efficient infrastructure while exporting high-energy, high-emission workloads elsewhere, the result will be a deepening of economic and environmental inequities. Conversely, if we use the energy transition in data infrastructure as a platform for technology transfer, skills development, and renewable investment across regions, we can make real strides toward sustainable, shared prosperity.
Navigating the crossroads
Phoenix’s data center boom is a microcosm of a global shift. Cities from Dublin to Jakarta are grappling with the same tensions, including digital growth as an economic catalyst, energy and water as limiting factors, and public trust as the foundation for social license to operate.
The roadmap we have developed for Phoenix, along with the conversations in Zurich, highlights a set of guiding principles for policymakers, industry leaders, and technologists:
- Treat data as a strategic, sovereign asset – Align infrastructure planning with national and regional priorities for security, resilience, and economic development
- Recognize the energy centrality of digital infrastructure – Integrate data center planning into energy transition roadmaps, including renewable generation, storage, and demand response.
- Adopt performance-based governance – Tie incentives to measurable community, environmental, and economic outcomes.
- Leverage circular economy opportunities – Reducing e-waste, requiring waste heat reuse, and designing for recycling and refurbishing.
- Ensure inclusive access – Use data infrastructure investments to bridge digital divides and expand economic opportunity.
In the end, the conversation about data sovereignty and siting is really a conversation about the future we want to build. The choices we make now about where to place our digital infrastructure, how to power it, and who benefits will reverberate for decades.
If we embrace integrated planning, cross-sectoral collaboration, and a commitment to shared prosperity, data can be more than just a competitive advantage. It can be the foundation of a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable global digital economy.
From the deserts of Phoenix to the energy hubs of Europe, the opportunity is clear that we must lead not just in storing and processing the world’s data, but in stewarding it as the sovereign asset that will define the next era of human progress.