Data Centers

Who manages our data? A look behind the scenes of state-of-the-art IT infrastructures. Data centers are high-tech functional buildings, strictly protected treasuries and covert centers of power. The first comprehensive analysis of the history and present of IT infrastructures using the example of Switzerland. Questions of privacy, borders, and nationhood are increasingly shaping the way we think about all things digital. Data Centers brings together essays and photographic documentation that analyze recent and ongoing developments. Taking Switzerland as an example, the book takes a look at the country's data centers, law firms, corporations, and government institutions that are involved in the creation, maintenance, and regulation of digital infrastructures. Beneath the official storyline— Switzerland’s moderate climate, political stability, and relatively clean energy mix—the book uncovers a much more varied and sometimes contradictory set of narratives.