Creation of European Technology Platform for HPC

Suppliers of
HPC technologies like Allinea,
ARM,
Bull,
Caps
Entreprise,
Eurotech,
IBM,
Intel,
ParTec,
STMicroelectronics
and Xyratex
in association with HPC research centres BSC,
CEA,
CINECA,
Fraunhofer,
Forschungszentrum
Juelich
and LRZ
have created a European Technology Platform for HPC (ETP4HPC) and
released the ETP’s Vision document to improve Europe’s position in
the domain of HPC technologies.

HPC is an
instrument to resolve problems of high complexity that require large and efficient computational and
storage capabilities for activities such as modelling natural
phenomena (weather, climate change, or epidemics), optimizing energy
resources, researching novel materials, and shortening engineering
development cycles fostering innovation across the region.

The
European Commission’s communication High Performance
Computing: Europe’s place in a Global Race
underlines the strategic nature of HPC and sees a European Technology
Platform (ETP) playing an important role.
The ETP is an industry led forum open to any organization performing
research in the area of HPC technologies in Europe with the objective
to define Europe’s research priorities in developing European
technology in all segments of the HPC solution
supply chain.

The ETP strengthens European competitiveness in the
area of HPC, which is a requirement for
future research and innovation as well as addressing a
range of social and economic challenges.

The ETP4HPC expects to be
recognised as the ETP referenced by European Commission and
complements the research capacities created through Partnership
for
Advanced
Computing
in
Europe
(PRACE). The
Vision
Paper
indicates that the ETP4HPC can improve Europe’s position in the domain of HPC technologies through a
research program building on mutual strengths, taking advantage of
technological disruptions with
sustainable market potential, targeting technologies meeting the
needs of important applications, and facilitating the creation of
start-ups and the development of the SME sector as well as utilizing
synergies with other IT sectors to influence next generation
computing.

The
benefits of an research program are a
strong HPC technology ecosystem, competitive HPC solutions designed
in Europe, and a strong economical HPC sector. These new strengths
lead to better ability in HPC use and a competitive advantage for
European research and industry areas in creating new opportunities
and new activities.

The ETP4HPC is preparing a Strategic Research Agenda to provide input
for the Horizon 2020 program for defining future European research
objectives. The industry and the research centres based in Europe are
committed to investing in a research program dedicated to HPC
technologies and to increase their research and development efforts.

The creation of ETP4HPC is a step in encouraging and strengthening the position
of the European HPC industry. The set of
competencies among the members of this initiative indicate that
Europe can be at the forefront of the HPC industry in the coming
years if an ambitious research and development program is put in
place. The ETP will act as a catalyst for such a development
resulting in a stronger European HPC industry that creates
employment, adds value, and a stimulus for students and academic
researchers in the ICT field. Through this capability and capacity, HPC users gain the capability to achieve new
results in science and technology and to design more innovative
products and services.