On Monday, 21 October, the European Commission detailed the selection process for the eight sites to host supercomputers in a written reply to Bulgarian MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) (see EUROPE 12271/10). It thus announced that these eight computers would be installed in the second half of 2020.
The EuroHPC joint undertaking was launched in November 2018. It aims to provide Europe with high-performance computing machines in order to support the development of major applications in fields such as personalized medicine and climate change.
The Commission states that following an evaluation by independent experts, the host sites were selected based on criteria contained in the call for tenders and information submitted by the applicants, including the future computer’s specifications, the cost of ownership, experience with similar systems, the site’s description and preparedness plan, and the services provided to users (see EUROPE 12308/23). Moreover, the offers included letters from Member States committing to provide financial support to cover their share of supercomputer-related costs.
The time has now come to negotiate host agreements. Once this process has been completed, the acquisition phase will be able to begin in preparation for the supercomputers’ installation between mid- and late 2020. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)