EU China Industrial Cooperation Initiatives in High-Performance Computing and Networking
by Eckart Bierdümpel
ERCIM is coordinating the European part of an industrial High Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN) initiative between the European Union and China. This initiative is sponsored and funded by the European Commission, the Chinese authorities and Chinese and European private companies.
High Performance Computing and Networking is a crucial technology for European industrial and scientific competitiveness. It has the potential for great and far-reaching impact on productivity, industrial competitiveness, environmental management and many other aspects of economy and society.
The use of HPCN systems for commercial applications is expected to be taken up vigorously in the second half of the decade, both in Europe and in emerging economies, such as China. Due to the strategic importance of this technology for both the European and the Chinese industry, the EU-China High Performance Computing and Networking Initiative has been set-up to foster business, industrial and technological cooperation between European and Chinese operators in this high-tech sector. Expected results from this initiative are the following:
- raising the awareness of the available technology and expertise for companies with potential interest in HPCN in China and in Europe
- informing the business community in this field about the market opportunities in China and Europe
- offering a business forum, where direct contacts between potential partners from Europe and China can be made
- establish a cooperation between European and Chinese companies in the field of HPCN for the mutual benefit of Europe and China.
The initiative should serve as kick-off for:
- the implementation of the design and development of hardware and software for HPCN
- the implementation of the design and development of HPCN applications
- the marketing of the products resulting of the co-operations.
As examples the following areas could be covered by the initiative:
- networking including the most advanced technologies (eg ATM, SCI)
- multimedia (eg VoD servers, high performance web servers)
- simulation & design (eg for areas like environment and weather forecast, seismic and oil reservoir simulation, aviation and automatic designs).
Projects in this initiative should cover cooperation that implement HPCN from clustering of workstations to the usage of parallel compute servers.
During 1997, several activities will be organised to reach the objectives of this initiative. Up to three workshops will be organised in Europe in order to raise the awareness of European enterprises concerning opportunities in China related to HPCN technologies. One workshop will be organised in China where interested European companies should participate and a business forum will be organised to promote direct Sino-European contacts.
The following time frame is expected:
- Workshops in Europe: June 1997
- Workshop in China: September 1997
- Business Forum: September 1997
More information at: http://www.ercim.eu/HPCN/
European companies interested by this initiative can contact one of the following persons below.
Please contact:
Eckart Bierdümpel - GMD
Tel: +49 2241 14 2256
E-Mail: bierduempel@gmd.deThierry Priol - INRIA-IRISA
Tel: +33 2 99 84 72 10
E-Mail: priol@irisa.fr