HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	88
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING MICROSOFT TO CONSIDER BUILDING A DATA CENTER IN HAWAII.

WHEREAS, Microsoft has made numerous investments to people, organizations, and the planet and has also demonstrated its deep commitment to the State; and

WHEREAS, Microsoft employs more than sixty-five employees throughout the State, who in turn have engaged in two hundred eighty-four hours of volunteer work; and

WHEREAS, six hundred sixty-three nonprofits in the State have received cash and in-kind donations from Microsoft; and

WHEREAS, Microsoft has demonstrated its commitment to workforce development and cybersecurity in the State via a grant to the Hawai‘i Community College and the American Association of Community Colleges' Cyber Skills for All Initiative, which helps fund and provide technical assistance to community colleges to accelerate their cybersecurity programs; and

WHEREAS, this initiative is part of Microsoft's national campaign to help community colleges work to train and recruit people for jobs in the cybersecurity workforce, with a goal of two hundred fifty thousand cybersecurity workers by 2025, representing half of the country's workforce shortage; and

WHEREAS, Microsoft has also established several local partnerships in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, with support from a Microsoft grant, Goodwill is equipping job seekers and career advancers with digital skills aligned with in-demand occupations needed for post-pandemic employment, including job seekers learning in the top three levels of digital skills training: productivity software, entry level digital skills, and mid-level and occupation‑specific digital skills; and

WHEREAS, Microsoft also has an official Digital Alliance partnership in the State, which focuses on STEM and computer science for youth, and a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii focused on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and education; and

WHEREAS, Microsoft is also committed to improving broadband access in the State through its Airband Initiative, which advances digital equity access to affordable Internet, affordable devices, and digital skills as a platform for empowerment and digital transformation; and

WHEREAS, because environmental issues are also increasingly affecting living conditions and economies throughout the globe, Microsoft has made a commitment to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, and to protect ecosystems by developing a Planetary Computer; and

WHEREAS, additionally, through new digital tools, Microsoft can assist in decarbonizing operations and infrastructure, which was the modification behind the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability; and

WHEREAS, two seismic shifts in society are happening at the same time: the digitization of nearly everything, in what some call the fourth industrial revolution, and a move toward renewable energy driven by the climate crisis and other world events; and

WHEREAS, at the confluence of these movements are thousands of data centers operating around the clock to support a wide spectrum of critical services; and

WHEREAS, data centers are facilities that centralize an organization's information technology operations and equipment for the purposes of storing, processing, and disseminating data and applications; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2017 report released by the United States Chamber Technology Engagement Center, the average data center adds $32,500,000 in economic activity to its local community each year; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, Microsoft announced plans to build fifty to one hundred new data centers across the globe each year; and

WHEREAS, establishing a Microsoft data center in Hawaii would have a positive impact on the State's economy and would further Microsoft's longstanding commitment to the State; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that Microsoft is urged to consider building a data center in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft and Vice President of Global Data Center Construction at Microsoft.

Report Title:

Microsoft; Data Centers