Another tech giant could be on the way to Denmark

CBS professor: Google or Amazon might come to Odense

Feb 25, 2015

On Monday Apple announced it is opening a data centre in Viborg that will create 300 jobs. Some commentators were surprised, not by the fact that the Californian IT giant chose Denmark, but that it would be setting up shop in Viborg instead of Odense.

But now Fyens Stiftstidende reports that another IT company – potentially the internet search king Google or the ecommerce concern Amazon – could be on its way to Denmark’s third-biggest city.

Intense speculation
The Tietgenbyen commercial complex near Odense has been the subject of intense speculation since the local municipality changed planning regulations to make way for an IT company that needs premises with 500,000 sqm of floor space in a building up to 23 metres tall with access to a lot of power.

Niels Bjørn-Andersen, a CBS professor who specialises in T management, told the newspaper that Google and Amazon were the most likely suspects.

“It sounds pretty big that they need so much space and should be allowed to build so high,” he said. “I can’t imagine someone other than those two.”

Would make sense
Google already has four data centres in Europe – in Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland – and Amazon has one in Ireland.

Bjørn-Andersen says that a Danish centre would make sense, but that Odense might not be the most obvious choice. “I can imagine both of these companies setting up a centre in Denmark to open up the Scandinavian market,” he said.

"Odense has a geographical advantage in terms of transport. On the face of it though, it seems more natural to locate such a centre in Stockholm or Copenhagen.”