Portugal “is one of the first countries to implement the Advanced Computing Strategy,” said Khalil Rouhana, Deputy Director General of the Directorate-General Communication Networks, Content and Technologies at the European Commission, during the presentation session of the National Strategy for Advanced Computing, held at Técnico on 12th June. “Together we will build the most powerful ecosystem for computing and data processing in the world.” To this end, about € 1 billion will be invested over the next two years, half from the EU funds. Europe will have “three supercomputers in the world Top 10”. Khalil Rouhana stressed “strengthening our skills in this area and apply them to the benefit of citizens and business is our aim”.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, professor Manuel Heitor, pointed out “involving companies and the public administration in order to create more and better jobs in Europe is our goal”. To this end, “partnerships with the industrial sectors will be established”, informed the Minister.
Professor Arlindo Oliveira, president of Técnico, was visibly pleased to host the presentation session of this project, which “will allow Europe to occupy a leading position in the future map of supercomputing. Técnico is the Portuguese higher education institution that has more experience in this field”.
Nuno Rodrigues, Board member at Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) highlighted “A parallel digital world exists alongside our own”.
“People will be the centre of this revolution” and this will result from the 2030 Advanced Computing Strategy, the National Digital Competences Initiative e.2030, Portugal INCoDe.2030.
Luís Oliveira e Silva, president of IST Scientific Council, stressed “supercomputers are changing the way scientists are doing science” because “the computer revolution is redesigning science and engineering.”
According to António Cunha, coordinator of the Portuguese proposal to EuroHPC, and professor at the University of Minho, “the supercomputer is expected to be operational in the first half of 2021”. The supercomputer will be installed in MACC – Minho Advanced Computing Center and will be available to “potential users in the academic and business communities”. This project is developed under the “Iberian Network of Advanced Computing – RICA”.
This Iberian project of creating a supercomputer was praised throughout the session. A consortium between Portugal and Spain aims to install another supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre.
