HPC for Economic Competitiveness

A strong consensus exists among EU and US policymakers that High-Performance Computing (HPC) represents a key technology for economic competitiveness and innovation [1]. This is reflected in the €8bn investment in supercomputing proposed by the EC in September 2020. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that HPC would be vital to Europe's #Covid-19 economic recovery.

"We want the European industry to develop our own next-generation microprocessor that will allow us to use the increasing data volumes energy-efficient and securely," van der Leyen said at the State of the Union speech. "This is what Europe’s digital decade is all about!”

The Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) represents an excellent example of a modern, lean and efficient mission-focused organisation. Its primary purpose is to accelerate the effective use and adoption of novel technologies such as HPC and technical computing. It is predominantly operating in TRLs 4 to 7 (proof of concept, pre-competitive research) and has already established a remarkable track record of industry R&D collaboration, SME support and service provision to the public sector.

Ireland now has a timely opportunity to deploy this exceptional expertise to place itself amongst the front runners in leveraging these technologies for economic and societal benefits. Ireland  should be among the leaders in the effective exploitation of this disruptive technology.

A more detailed presentation of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and its benefits can be found here.

[1] “A Digital Economy and Society  powered by High-Performance Computing”, EC authored.

[2] Tech Driven Change a Key Priority for New EC President Tech Crunch