In recent years, digitization has been one of the phenomena that is developing the most at a global level completely upsetting the way we communicate, work and changing our daily habits. Digital devices even in our homes have made everything different; for both companies and citizens, the development of these new technologies has allowed the abandonment of old production and communication systems, some even very expensive in economic and environmental terms. As often happens, however, there is a reverse of the medal: the dizzying growth of digital systems has led to an increase in data to be analyzed and stored, exponentially increasing the energy consumption of servers and data centers necessary to catalyze all this information. We can therefore speak of real digital pollution which requires important countermeasures: it is essential to increase environmental sensitivity in this sector so that developers and digital designers can be more incentivized to provide more energy-efficient platforms. A digital sustainability must be the key element for the management of products and services of this type.
Photo by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay
On this line Cubbit is the first European enabler of geo-distributed cloud storage: thanks to its technology, it guarantees the security and sovereignty of customer data, while cutting costs, cyber risks and CO2 emissions. It is based in Bologna, born from an idea of Marco MuschettiniStefano Onofri, Alessandro Cillario e Lorenzo Posani, in addition to having sold its solution in over 70 countries worldwide, serves more than 120 Italian companies that have joined the dedicated Next Generation Cloud Pioneers network. On April 13, 2023 the company Granarolo she joined Cubbit for secure and sustainable data management. This collaboration it is an example of the use of geo-distributed cloud in the cooperative world; a new paradigm, already adopted by Bonfiglioli, Bologna Airport and many other pioneering Italian companies that ensures greater safety and sustainability, in a context where data management increases exponentially.
I had the chance to interview Alexander Cillario e Stefano Onofri, both co-CEO and co-founder of Cubbit. Questions and answers below
How can digital be sustainable?
Digital can be sustainable by moving away from current data storage and management models. Every email we send, every video we watch, every message we post on social media predicts a data shift and, with it, a consumption of electricity, often produced from non-renewable sources. Any device generates data continuously. It is an exponential growth: second Gartner, unstructured data will triple by 2026. Where is this data stored? In data centers, responsible for an enormous quantity of CO2 emissions, estimated at 3.7% of those produced in the world. In fact, today’s Internet network relies on highly energy-intensive data centres, real buildings full of servers connected 24 hours a day. Not to mention the transfer cost: the data from my Google searches, for example, are not necessarily stored in a data center near me, they do not follow, so to speak, ecological logic. It is also estimated that the ICT ecosystem is currently responsible for 10% of total energy demand worldwide, equal to the combined energy production of Germany and Japan. This is where Cubbit comes in. Compared to other cloud storage services, Cubbit produces 25kg less CO2 for every TB stored. This is made possible by the geo-distributed nature of Cubbit. Unlike the traditional cloud, in fact, con Cubbit data is no longer stored in physical data centers, but is instead distributed in a low-power, (almost) zero kilometer peer-to-peer network. It is a true geo-distributed data centerwhich recycles internet devices and resources already in homes and businesses.
Founders_Cubbit
Your aim is to combine safety and environmental protection. What kind of reception have your ideas received?
We are used to seeing the world of internet services as centralized in data centers but this has its limits: many of these services are not respectful of privacy, susceptible to cyber attacks, data loss and particularly expensive. Precisely for this reason, the idea of a system capable of creating a way out of all this was soon met with great enthusiasm. In 2018 we were funded by TechStars and following a successful 2019 launch on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, we secured major funding from the European Commission. To date we have more than 5500 customers between individuals, institutions and companies, from small businesses in the area to large companies of the caliber of Granarolo, not to mention the numerous international investors such as Barclays, Azimut, Gellify and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti who have supported us with over 10 million in funding. Our ideas are finding feedback, so much so that in 2021 we were invited to Gaia-X, an initiative funded by the European Commission to create a community ecosystem of cloud services. Since then it has been a continuous growth: more and more companies choose Cubbit precisely because, unlike our competitors, we offer a green solution that protects their data without any compromise in terms of digital sovereignty.
Photo by Jae Rue from Pixabay
How did the partnership with Granarolo come about?
It was a natural thing, we could almost say “physiological”. Granarolo is a large, rapidly growing international cooperative. And as you can imagine, the geo-distributed cloud is by definition cooperative: each member of the network contributes to the development of the service and at the same time benefits from it. The President of Granarolo himself, Gianpiero Calzolari, shared the goal of extending the use of Cubbit to over 600 members present in 12 Italian regions, ideal ecosystem for the geo-distributed model. After this first experimentation, we will work in this direction. Granarolo entering Cubbit’s Next Generation Cloud network therefore initiates a small revolution in its innovation and digitization process: a best practice that we will bring to the cooperative world in the coming months.
Granarolo_Cubbit
What do you think about how we are treating our planet? Will we be able to be more virtuous and achieve the goals set in the UN Agenda for 2030?
We should do much more, both as Italy and as Europe. It is no coincidence that the research institute Gartner has included eco-sustainable technologies among the technology trends of 2023 and that it refers to them in terms of making the energy and resources we already have more efficient and prioritizing investments in sustainable technologies. Over the past 20 years we have seen a progressive and rapid reduction in the price of solar panels, yet we are still a long way from a massive implementation of this technology. So much so that a large part of our energy needs is still met by coal and fossil fuels. In addition to offsetting emissions and using clean energy, cloud companies are studying new ways to reduce their impact. Some implement circular economy systems, supplying the excess thermal output to local energy districts, which use it as an integrated heating source. Others, however, relocate their facilities, taking advantage of the cold climate of the arctic or the submarine, to cool the servers in a natural way. But even in this case there is a question of the correct consumption of water. In the technological field, let’s think for example of artificial intelligence whose theme has exploded in recent months. On the one hand it should increase productivity and efficiency, but on the other, according to an article published in La Repubblica, it emerged that for ChatGPT training alone the same water is required that would require a nuclear reactor for cooling, i.e. about 700,000 liters of water. ‘waterfall. To conclude: will we be able to achieve the goals by 2030? The answer is: we have to do it, there’s nothing more to add but education and innovation in this sense is needed.
Future plans?
Definitely extend this best practice, being tested with Granarolo, to the entire cooperative world. In fact, 8 out of 10 cooperatives have decided to take the path of green innovation, with a total of 1.2 billion euros invested since 2021. We therefore want to give, also in this context, our contribution on eco-innovation and the use of environmentally friendly technologies. We will also soon launch the network internationally, replicating what we did with the Next Generation Cloud Pioneers program (with 120 participating Italian companies) in other European countries. We will continue to do our best on sustainability issues, making decision-makers increasingly aware of the importance of innovating in a sustainable way and making the right tools available to do so.
Team Cubbit
