Verisk, a strategic data analytics and technology partner serving the global insurance industry, has introduced a new US Data Center Exposure Database aimed at helping insurers, reinsurers and brokers assess the growing concentration of physical assets associated with data centre infrastructure.
The database, developed by Verisk, covers more than 2,500 data centre facilities across the country. It provides building-level geocoding alongside information on facility footprints, physical characteristics and operational attributes.
The data can be incorporated into a range of insurance risk assessment and modelling workflows through Verisk Synergy Studio and Touchstone.
The launch follows a period of significant investment in digital infrastructure, with the expansion of artificial intelligence increasing demand for data centre capacity. Verisk said industry estimates suggest global data centre insurance premiums could rise from approximately $10 billion in 2026 to $23 billion by 2030, as facilities supporting AI, cloud computing and digital services continue to expand.
The increasing scale of data centre development is also creating new concentrations of physical and insured value. According to Verisk, individual facilities can contain billions of dollars in assets and provide infrastructure for business, government and digital services.
For insurers, identifying the location and characteristics of these facilities can be important when assessing exposure concentrations, catastrophe risk and potential accumulation across portfolios. Verisk said the new database has been developed to provide more consistent and detailed information on this emerging area of risk.
The Verisk US Data Center Exposure Database contains information covering facility locations, building structures and operational characteristics. Data fields include rooftop-level geocoding, building footprints, construction type, floor area, capacity and operational redundancy characteristics. Verisk noted that the availability and level of detail for individual data fields can vary according to the facility and source.
The database is provided in several formats, including flat-file records, building footprint shapefiles and a 90-metre disaggregation grid. Verisk said these datasets can support geospatial analysis and catastrophe modelling, as well as insurance activities such as underwriting, exposure management and portfolio accumulation assessment.
“AI is often discussed as a digital transformation story, but it is increasingly a physical infrastructure story,” commented Rob Newbold, President of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions. “The facilities powering that growth represent billions of dollars in concentrated assets, and that has implications not only for insurers but also for reinsurers, investors and capital markets participants looking to understand and manage emerging sources of potential risk.”
The database also reflects increasing industry interest in understanding how data centre assets are distributed geographically and how concentrations may develop across insurance portfolios.
“Data centres have quietly become one of the largest and fastest-growing concentrations of insured value in the modern economy,” added Jay Guin, executive vice president and chief research officer, Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions.
“Organisations are investing billions of dollars to support AI-driven growth, but many insurers are increasingly focused on understanding where these assets are located and how risk accumulates across regions and portfolios. If you can’t identify the exposure, you can’t effectively measure or manage it. This data set is designed to provide additional information to support those efforts.”
Verisk developed the US Data Center Exposure Database in response to demand for greater visibility into the location and characteristics of data centre infrastructure. The company said the information is intended to help risk management organisations assess exposures associated with facilities that may be affected by a range of natural hazards.
“Data centres are ultimately physical facilities with real-world exposure to hurricanes, flooding, severe convective storms, earthquakes and other perils. As AI infrastructure continues expanding across the United States, understanding where those assets are located and how risks aggregate becomes increasingly important to insurers, businesses and communities alike,” Guin further added.
Verisk said the US Data Center Exposure Database is available to insurers, reinsurers, brokers and other risk management organisations through its catastrophe modelling platforms, Verisk Synergy Studio and Touchstone.
