The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking has selected eight sites which will host the EU’s first supercomputers.
The ‘supercomputing centres’ will be built in Sofia, Bulgaria; Ostrava, Czechia; Kajaani, Finland; Bologna, Italy; Bissen, Luxembourg; Minho; Portugal; Maribor, Slovenia; and Barcelona, Spain. 19 of the 28 Member States participating in the High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking will contribute to the consortia operating the centres, which will contribute to the development of new applications in sectors including medicine, bioengineering, meteorology and analysis and mitigation of climate change.
Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: “These sites will give our researchers access to world class supercomputers, a strategic resource for the future of European industry. They will be able to process their data inside the EU, not outside it. It is a major step forward for Europe to reach the next level of computing capacity; it will help us to advance in future-oriented technologies like the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, robotics and data analytics.”
High performance computing capabilities are increasingly crucial to optimising countries’ economic growth and job provision, progress in the medical field, developing Artificial Intelligence programmes, running large scale simulations and other applications integral to the development of innovation and strategy.
Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources Günther Oettinger stated: “This initiative demonstrates how joint investment between the EU and its Member States in support of a common objective can contribute to making Europe a leader in a high-technology sector, bringing significant benefits to all European citizens and businesses. We are now looking ahead to the EU’s next long-term budget and to our Digital Europe programme, through which we have proposed a significant amount of investment in deploying a world class supercomputing and data infrastructure.”
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said: “The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking is a good example of how EU countries can cooperate to drive innovation and compete globally in these highly strategic technologies. I am convinced that the new supercomputers that these sites will host will boost Europe’s competitiveness in the digital area. We have demonstrated the strength of our European approach which will bring concrete benefits to our citizens and help our SMEs.”
