Green Data Center Erasmus Project

Project Title

Green Data Center

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

Europe hosts increasing number of data centers some of them are small companies and others are owned by multinational internet giants. One thing in common to these all are that they need skilled work-force. At the same time as number of data centers are growing in Europe we have to think their climate impact. Data centers are very power consuming facilities and if electricity that they use are generated using nonrenewable energy they are burden to climate. Green Data Center project aims to provide European students skills needed to work in a data center environment that uses renewable energy sources and by this way does not affect the climate change. Project managing organization Ekami has on its Hamina campus data center that uses renewable energy sources for example solar power, wind power and geothermal heath. In the beginning of the project, we have been done a transnational curriculum called Green Unit.
Green Unit curriculum were developed in between all project partners Ekami, Roc Noorderpoort, TEC and UMSZKI. Each partnering organization had their own project team from study fields of IT and ICT. Project teams contains teachers and experts. and eventually students was participate in the project by piloting the developed Green Unit transnational curriculum. The project had two major phases. The first one were develop the transnational curriculum and every partner had to compare their national curricula to projects transnational development of the curriculum and find common ground on contents and assessment. Second major phase were the piloting phase. Once curriculum was ready students were divided on transnational teams that have experts and teachers mentoring their teams to carry out studies together. In the beginning of the piloting we decided with the project group that students will work in national groups and only teachers was mentoring the students. Reason was that the Covid-19 pandemic was changing all the time and we needed to prepare to this difficult situation. we tried to prepare so that covid would have as little effect on actions. And when some of students were studying by themselves they needed pedagogical support from their own teacher. At the end of piloting the idea was that students will gather to Finland to do their final display of the studies in Ekami’s data center environment. Again the pandemic made travel restrictions and students weren’t able to travel anywhere.
The piloting included the hands-on week. Students was participated in the project by piloting the developed Green Unit transnational curriculum. The original idea was that the Hands-on week should have been in the Ekami’s data center, but it was held in virtually. During the week we had four special events where people from different part of data center industry gave us lessons. The whole concept needed to change because we weren’t able to handle hardware and different systems like heating/cooling systems, electricity, cabling, etc, because we worked virtually. A new task for the week was made quickly. The task was to build a data center in virtual environment which should have been redundant. Each student group had own servers and they needed to solve together what kind of model and topology they are going to create. The Dutch students were leading other groups, because they had the most knowledge of this kind of things. The teachers were only mentoring the students.
During the whole project the process was monitored and evaluated so project has feedback on what worked excellent and what needs more developing. By the end of the project every partner can offer their students Green Unit that could be implemented every semester transnationally with these project organizations. This way the schools can offer skills to the students that they need to work in any kind of data center. Employment will be facilitated and IT and ICT education will attract growing number of students.
The pandemic causes that we got more experience, how this kind of task can be performed virtually. The professional knowledge of student increased in the activities if student was active. Soft skills, like communication, in virtual environment between groups didn’t develop as well in a virtual environment as face-to-face meeting.
The project had a lot of difficulties. Many project workers changed during the project, including the coordinator project manager. The Covid-19 pandemic causes that piloting period was taken into virtual environment.To which extend the Green Unit will be offered by all partner institutions after the project is finalised differ from one school to another. At EKAMI, Finland for instance, the unit is being implemented. Within the coming years and as the Covid vaccination is succeeding, the project partners will try and continue their international collaboration. Thereby students from TEC, UMSZKI and Roc Noorderport will still be collaborating and fulfill the practical part of the project which was not possible due to Covid19.

Project Website

http://www.greendatacenter.zone

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 159852,46 Eur

Project Coordinator

Kotkan-Haminan seudun koulutuskuntayhtymä & Country: FI

Project Partners

• Budapesti Müszaki Szakképzési Centrum Újpesti Két Tanítási Nyelvü Müszaki Technikum
• TEC, TECHNICAL EDUCATION COPENHAGENS/I
• ROC Noorderpoort