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techUK is delighted to welcome Jinél Fourie - Director of Public Policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Vantage Data Centers - to the UK Council of Data Centres. She replaces Bruce Stephenson as Vantage Data Centres' representative.

Jinél has over a decade of experience in public policy across the EMEA region. She has worked in a range of technology-oriented industries including electric micromobility, e-commerce, intellectual property, and most recently data centres. 

Her passion and experience lie in the hyper-growth, technology-oriented environments offered by these industries. As a purpose-driven policy practitioner and leader, she prides herself in helping organisations find the right balance between advancing the greater good for society and the planet, whilst driving sustainable growth through regulation that enables innovation. 

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, an Honours degree, and two master's degrees in development studies and international relations. 

About the techUK Data Centres Council

techUK’s Data Centres Council comprises twenty individual members who represent the full spectrum of business interests and business models across the data centre sector. Members include wholesale and retail colocation providers, cloud and hosting service and enterprise operators and range from multinationals to SMEs.

The Council representatives shape the Data Centres Programme priorities and are part of a platform for both thought leadership and driving forward valuable relationships with key stakeholders, including key Government Departments and Regulators – as well as working with the wider tech industry to transform the sector.

techUK's Data Centres Council is the leadership body that works with the Data Centres Programme to:

1. Steer the Data Centres Programme, agree on priorities for action, engage with the resulting Working Groups;
2. Define the policy responses required for a given issue – wider programme member views will also be sought;
3. Bring focus to our data centres policy work and act as the first port of call for engagement with high-profile stakeholders; and 
4. Represent the interests of the broader membership

Find out more about the Council, including Terms of Reference, here.

The Council has delivered a number of significant outcomes for the UK data centre sector.  These include negotiating a Climate Change Agreement, limiting the impact of the Carbon Reduction Commitment, building a qualification framework to recognise professionalism in the sector, positioning the sector as a career destination of choice, demonstrating the economic value of the sector and demystifying data centres to policy makers across government.

Most recently the Council, through techUK, succeeded in securing the inclusion of data centres on the list of key workers and as a result of our intervention, a dedicated data infrastructure resilience team has been established within DCMS.  The UK has the largest data centre market in Europe by a significant margin and as a result the Council also takes a close interest in EU policy developments impacting the sector, working with international counterparts to ensure that UK interests are properly represented.