DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY : COMMISSION WANTS TO PROMOTE HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING.

The European Commission adopted a plan of action to promote High Performance Computing (HPC) - a technology considered to be crucial for innovation and growth - in the EU(1), on 15 February.

This is a pretty ambitious plan as the institution wants to turn the EU - which is lagging behind in this field - into an HPC global actor to be reckoned with by 2020. The plan will see the EU multiplying investments in this technology (from 630 million to 1.2 billion) by two, says the Commission.

HPC technology is in fact a supercomputer' which works at at very high speed, an asset that is particularly relevant for calculations. A supercomputer can cost more than 100 million to build and 20 million to maintain each year. Europe's most powerful supercomputers are the CURIE HPC system in France and the HERMES HPC system in Germany. Ninety seven per cent of the industrial companies that employ an HPC consider it essential for their ability to innovate, compete and survive. For instance, HPC has enabled car makers to develop new vehicle platforms in two years rather than five years, saving the European car industry a lot of money, says the Commission. High Performance Computing (HPC) is critical in other industries as well, such as the health sector. Indeed, 3D brain imaging through HPC has allowed much earlier...