nLighten Secures Major Geneva Data Center Services Contract

The canton of Geneva, Switzerland, has signed a new data center colocation agreement with nLighten. As detailed in a tender issued by the Geneva Cantonal Office for Information Systems and Digital Technology (OCSIN), the 10-year contract with the European operator’s Swiss subsidiary is worth CHF 7.68 million (approximately $9.9 million). The facility will house OCSIN’s IT infrastructure and is required to meet Tier III service continuity standards. DCD has contacted both OCSIN and nLighten for additional comment.

According to OCSIN, nLighten was selected ahead of two competing bidders during the procurement process. The agency stated that the European operator secured the contract by fully satisfying the tender’s “technical, ecological, and social requirements,” along with meeting expectations around scalability, territorial and governance criteria, and offering the most competitive pricing. As part of the tender requirements, OCSIN specified that its IT infrastructure must be hosted in a modern, energy-efficient data center that complies with Tier III operational standards.

The contract award comes at a time of growing cybersecurity concerns for OCSIN. Last year, Geneva state councillor Carole-Anne Kast told Tribune de Genève that the agency had recorded a 38 percent rise in cyber incidents targeting the canton — averaging around 1.4 incidents per day. Established in 2023, nLighten serves as the digital infrastructure platform of US investment firm I Squared Capital. The company currently operates a portfolio of 34 facilities with a combined compute capacity of 22MW across Europe.