Professors and researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, led the Portuguese team behind the European Processor Initiative project, which successfully developed the first European processor, marking an important step towards the continent’s autonomy in the field of computing. Since its inception in 2018, the project has included participants from over two dozen nationalities and has secured 150 million euros in funding.
Leonel Sousa, the principal investigator on the Portuguese side, announces, “we now have high-performance computing (HPC) centers capable of performing large-scale operations”. The Técnico professor and researcher at the Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores – Investigação e Desenvolvimento (INESC ID) explains that the European Process Initiative aimed to develop processors capable of powering high-performance computing centres in the long term. This includes the development of exascale computing, which can perform on the order of 10¹⁸ operations per second (1,000,000,000,000,000,000, or one trillion, equivalent to “one million billion”). One of the significant challenges of exascale computing is managing the enormous energy consumption these systems require.
The development of components like processors, which are crucial for computing processes, is increasingly vital, especially for the functioning of artificial intelligence systems that are becoming more relevant to society.
Along with Leonel Sousa, the Técnico delegation accompanying the Portuguese team also included professors Pedro Tomás, Nuno Roma, and Aleksandar Ilic, as well as researcher Nuno Neves, and a large group of doctoral and master’s students, all focused on developing equipment to monitor system operation and assess whether their performance was satisfactory. This instrumentation process involved the implementation of both hardware and software.
“Processors are the ‘brain’ of computing—if one day Europe lacks autonomy in the realm of computers, it will lack autonomy in the realm of computing”, warns Leonel Sousa. The consequence? “There are no climate models, no simulations of new molecules for new drugs, no AMALIA… processors are fundamental to these applications”. That is why the professor argues that “what the country gains [from these applications] far outweighs what it invests—these technologies are essential for the economy”. “The future lies in these technologies, not in low-value-added activities”, he concludes.
Following the success of this work, a new six-year project called DARE has been launched, with 250 million euros in funding. DARE aims to expand the range of European-made equipment in the field of high-performance computing, with a focus on processors and accelerators. Accelerators are specialised processors designed for specific tasks, offering superior energy efficiency, and are widely used in artificial intelligence applications.
