The foundations have been laid for a network that will promote scientific and technological collaboration and improve the use of supercomputing infrastructures across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. The plan to advance the design, development, and implementation of the EU-LAC Supercomputing Network was formalised at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, with participation from INESC TEC.
The Global Gateway Forum is a high-level event organised by the European Commission, bringing together policymakers, representatives from financial institutions, the private sector, and other societal stakeholders to explore innovative strategies. Among other outcomes, the Forum led to the signing of a declaration of intent to establish a supercomputing network that leverages existing High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources in Latin America and the Caribbean, reinforcing their connection to the European HPC ecosystem.
According to the declaration, the project mobilising the European team to drive this initiative is set to start in 2026, with INESC TEC represented by Rui Oliveira, Director of the Institute. The National Centre for Advanced Computing (CNCA) will be one of the European supercomputing centres integrated into this network.
Specifically, the EU-LAC Supercomputing Network will foster scientific and technological cooperation through training and capacity-building in the operation and use of supercomputers, as well as the development of applications addressing societal challenges using Artificial Intelligence (AI) – which requires significant computational power.
The network aims to expand and engage the EU-LAC scientific community in HPC and AI, increase access to EuroHPC infrastructures for researchers from Latin America and the Caribbean, and reinforce the use of the BELLA underwater cable, connecting Europe and Latin America.
This transatlantic cooperation initiative builds on the results of previously EU-funded programmes that brought R&D communities from both continents closer together in the field of supercomputing; the endeavour also involves the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU).
Global Gateway is a European Union strategy to promote collaboration across digital, power & energy and mobility sectors, while strengthening education and research worldwide. The strategy aligns with the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and U.Minho
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