When tracking the success of an industry in terms of carbon, waste or energy use-reduction, it is all about the numbers. But with a plethora of non-standardised metrics, methodologies and models on offer from the brightest minds in energy efficiency, it can be difficult to find a single source of truth to reflect the data center's sustainability opportunity.

In this panel, we ask how do we accurately calculate the total global consumption of the data center sector - is it rising exponentially or are technological updates starving of energy usage? Should we have one uniform methodology and if not, are some metrics in need of an update? Are the ‘bad numbers’ as catastrophic as they appear? And, do operators need to be more transparent so we can compare and contrast efforts more effectively?