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.org/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.de
Thierry Priol - INRIA-IRISA
Tel: +33 2 99 84 72 10
E-Mail: priol@irisa.fr
