Preparations to launch the Perun supercomputer are nearing their final stage, Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) announced at the Computing Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) in on Tuesday, with SAV chairman Martin Venhart and SAV ex-chairman Pavol Šajgalík in attendance.
The supercomputer will be put in operation in Kosice next week, and it should be launched in Bratislava in the first quarter of next year, said Migal, adding that €19.5 million has been directly invested in the project.
"I can say today that we'll ceremonially hand over the supercomputer in Kosice next week. That's why I wanted to familiarise myself with the progress of the work at SAV. I was pleased to receive information that we're making real headway and should launch this supercomputer here in Bratislava in the first quarter of next year," said Migal.
According to the minister, supercomputers are used wherever conventional technologies are no longer sufficient, whether it's in simulating climate change, predicting extreme phenomena, processing huge datasets or developing new medicines and materials, supporting research into quantum physics or organic chemistry or bio-medicine. "We'll have sufficient capacity for this so that Slovak scientists will be able to compute and perform their complex calculations," noted Migal.
Venhart views the Perun supercomputer as a very important milestone for Slovakia's digital future. Such high-performance computing is no longer the domain of science alone, but is increasingly being used and serves as the basis for innovations in industry, the health-care sector and energy. It's also related to the technology of the future - artificial intelligence, he said.
"This project shows that Slovakia can build truly modern infrastructure that will allow us to be a very active partner in European research and innovation in Europe. The Slovak Academy of Sciences sees the Perun supercomputer project as a strategic investment in the future of not only the academy, but also the entire Slovak Republic," underlined Venhart.
Source: TASR
