Latest news with #MODCorsham
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Company defends 'very disturbing' expansion plans
A director at a high-security data centre has defended the company's plans for expansion after residents described them as "very disturbing". Rob Silvester, chief revenue officer at Ark Data Centres, spoke about the company's plans to build a data centre on land next to the former MOD Corsham. Last year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that residents opposed plans, saying it would disrupt their sleep and cause them mental strain. "Nobody likes change, but we are at the forefront of a new age where change is necessary," said Mr Silvester. "What we've tried to do is be as sensitive as we possibly can given that it's an industrial development." More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire The company – where every employee has government security clearance – provides data services to telecoms firms, banks, and video streaming services. A group of residents from the nearby Wadswick Green retirement village have described the plans as "very disturbing" and causing "quite a lot of distress". Mr Silvester said exponential public demand for cloud services and AI had led to the growth of the data centre industry. One concern by local residents was the lights coming from the site, with some claiming it is like "looking on an airport terminal". James Smith, who also works at Ark, said: "We mended our lighting strategy at the beginning of this year, so all lights at night time are switched off unless they're needed for emergency or maintenance purposes. There is no light on the site at night." The firm added that advances in cooling fan technology meant there had been no increase in background noise from the site since 2016. The company said it hopes Wiltshire Council will start to deliberate the planning application in August. Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Retirement village anger over 'huge' data centre Data centre approval could create almost 400 jobs Plans unveiled for huge data centre Wiltshire Council
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wiltshire data company defends 'very disturbing' expansion plans
A director at a high-security data centre has defended the company's plans for expansion after residents described them as "very disturbing".Rob Silvester, chief revenue officer at Ark Data Centres, spoke about the company's plans to build a data centre on land next to the former MOD year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that residents opposed plans, saying it would disrupt their sleep and cause them mental strain."Nobody likes change, but we are at the forefront of a new age where change is necessary," said Mr Silvester. "What we've tried to do is be as sensitive as we possibly can given that it's an industrial development." The company – where every employee has government security clearance – provides data services to telecoms firms, banks, and video streaming services.A group of residents from the nearby Wadswick Green retirement village have described the plans as "very disturbing" and causing "quite a lot of distress".Mr Silvester said exponential public demand for cloud services and AI had led to the growth of the data centre concern by local residents was the lights coming from the site, with some claiming it is like "looking on an airport terminal".James Smith, who also works at Ark, said: "We mended our lighting strategy at the beginning of this year, so all lights at night time are switched off unless they're needed for emergency or maintenance purposes. There is no light on the site at night."The firm added that advances in cooling fan technology meant there had been no increase in background noise from the site since 2016. The company said it hopes Wiltshire Council will start to deliberate the planning application in August.
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
New command will counter ‘continual and intensifying' cyber warfare, says Healey
The Government will set up a cyber command to counter a 'continual and intensifying' level of cyber warfare as part of the strategic defence review, the Defence Secretary has announced. It will also invest more than £1 billion into a new 'digital targeting web' to be set up by 2027 to better connect weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster. It could identify a threat using a sensor on a ship or in space and then disable it using an F-35 aircraft, drone, or offensive cyber operation, the Ministry of Defence said. The cyber and electromagnetic command will be led by General Sir Jim Hockenhull to defend against cyber attacks and co-ordinate offensive moves with the national cyber force. Defence Secretary John Healey said that the Government is responding after some 90,000 cyber attacks from state-linked sources were directed at the UK's defence over the last two years. 'Certainly the intensity of the cyber attacks that we're seeing from Russia stepped up, and cyber is now the leading edge, not just of defence, but of contests and tension between countries,' he told reporters during a visit to MOD Corsham. He said there is a 'level of cyber warfare that is continual and intensifying' that requires the UK to step up its capacity to defend against it. The command will also work on electromagnetic warfare – for example, through degrading command and control, jamming signals to drones or missiles and intercepting an adversary's communications.
