In a step that is anticipated to strengthen cybersecurity in the nation and facilitate collaboration between operators of essential computing facilities and the government in safeguarding data from malicious attacks and disruptions, the United Kingdom said on Thursday that it now considers data centres to be critical infrastructure.

The "Critical National Infrastructure," or CNI, classification will be granted to data centres in the United Kingdom, according to British Technology Minister Peter Kyle. This designation is often only awarded to vital industries including energy, nuclear power, defence, space, and emergency services.

According to Kyle, the government would be able to better coordinate its efforts against hackers and unforeseen cyber incidents if data centres are granted critical infrastructure status.

The government said that data centre operators will essentially have a direct route to the government for assistance in anticipating and addressing data risks.

Additionally, on Thursday, the United Kingdom declared its support for a proposal put out by a company named DC01UK to build a massive 85-acre data centre in Hertfordshire, England. The announcement claimed the facility would eventually become the largest in Europe.

The government estimates that the new data centre project, which DC01UK intends to fund with £3.75 billion ($4.9 billion), will directly create over 700 jobs in the area and support 13,740 data and tech employment nationwide.

It follows the announcement on Wednesday by the world's largest digital company, Amazon, that it will invest £8 billion ($10.45 billion) in the United Kingdom over the next five years to construct and run data centres. The announcement was made through its AWS cloud computing business.

A crucial component of the current internet architecture is data centres. They make it possible for cloud computing or the widespread supply of internet services to end users via distant computers, to occur.

When they go down, internet users may experience severe disruptions and occasionally lose access to vital services.

The bulk of UK physicians' offices were affected by a big worldwide IT outage earlier this year, prompting the government to declare that a focus on key data infrastructure was necessary. A problematic software upgrade released by American cybersecurity company CrowdStrike was the cause of the outage.

(Sources: cnbc.com)