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The Week of Global Balances

28.01.2025

The past week was marked by major events: global attention focused on Donald Trump’s inauguration and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Two events centered on key issues shaping the future of business digitalization.

Without repeating what has already been extensively covered in the media, it is important to examine more closely how the announcements and the presence of key figures at these events outline scenarios that require careful strategic evaluation by companies.

The strong presence of Silicon Valley leaders at the inauguration—including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai—complements Trump’s ambitious announcements in Davos. There, the president outlined a bold vision for technological innovation, including massive investments in AI infrastructure ($500 billion from Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI) and a revolutionary proposal for energy management in data centers.
The promise to streamline approval processes and introduce “emergency declarations” to accelerate technological development opens up interesting opportunities, but also raises important strategic questions for businesses.

The Complexity of the Energy Issue

The management of the energy issue is emerging as a central topic. The contrast between Trump’s announced withdrawal from green policies and the focus on sustainability at Davos highlights a strategic crossroads for businesses.

If the U.S. doubles down on fossil fuels, rolls back environmental policies, and returns to a traditional energy model, significant consequences could follow. Global players may accelerate the transition to renewables, creating new competitive dynamics. Companies must closely assess how such decisions impact investments in energy efficiency, energy cost trends across regions, and shifts in sustainability standards across global markets.

In this context, announced trade policies—particularly tariffs and relations with China and Europe—are set to deeply reshape technology supply chains. This will directly affect the availability and cost of electronic components and the expansion of digital infrastructure, especially regarding global data center operations.

Europe is likely to experience a decline in competitiveness in key sectors such as automotive. Moreover, in an environment marked by trade and geopolitical tensions, cybersecurity will play an even more critical role. Companies must rethink their data protection strategies, factoring in the impact of tech restrictions on system resilience.

Viewed pragmatically, Europe faces a complex decision: aligning with the U.S. could mean higher energy costs but offer greater geopolitical stability; seeking independence might allow access to cheaper Asian hardware.

The key point is that both paths will significantly affect data centers—the backbone of Europe’s digital and economic future.
These centers face a dilemma: they must reduce energy costs, which dominate operational expenses, while also expanding infrastructure to meet the growing demands of AI and cloud computing with increasingly powerful hardware.

There is no perfect solution, but the ability to ensure the long-term sustainable growth of Europe’s digital infrastructure should guide decision-making—balancing strategic autonomy with cost competitiveness.