EuroCC

EuroCC

About EuroHPC JU

On September 1, 2020, two new projects were launched: EuroCC and Castiel, the main goal of which is to strengthen the knowledge and opportunities for HPC in Europe. With financial support from the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and as part of Horizon 2020, EuroCC and CASTIEL plan to build a European network of 33 national HPC competency centers.

The ultimate goal of both projects is to bridge existing HPC skills gaps, while promoting collaboration and best practice across Europe, but also to provide a coordinated and consistent high level of expertise across Europe for HPC and related disciplines, such as are High Performance Data Analysis (HPDA) and Artificial Intelligence.

Such European knowledge and expertise are key to strengthening the technological autonomy and competitiveness of the European Union (EU).

About EuroCC – National Competence centers within the EuroHPC

The main focus of the EuroCC project activities is to gather the necessary expertise to establish a network of HPC (High Performance Computing) National Competence Centers in 31 Member States and candidate countries across Europe, in order to provide a wide portfolio of customized services adjusted to the respective national needs of the industry, academia and public administration. All this in direction to support and increase the national competencies for High Performance Processing (HPC), the capabilities of High Performance Data Analytics (HPDA) and Artificial intelligence (AI), as well as increase the use of these technologies in different areas in the individual countries.

The concept of the EuroCC is to establish an HPC Competence Center in each of the participating countries as a reference and single point of contact for the academia, industry and public administration. These national competence centers will offer services to their end users covering their needs, from access to resources, through technology consulting or the provision of general and specialized trainings. EuroCC’s ambition is to become a facilitator of the network of National Competence Centers in the areas of HPC, HPDA and AI throughout Europe.

Mission

The mission of the EuroCC project is to implement the network of National Competence Centers (NCCs) in the most efficient way. The main task of the project is to help national centers establish their individual frameworks and operating procedures. At the same time, to gain access and make the best use of experience and expertise at national and European level.

Main objectives

The main goal of the EuroCC is to implement a European support structure based on strongly interconnected national competence centers (NCCs) to provide support to industry (especially small and medium-sized enterprises), academia and public administration to benefit from the available HPC expertise, experience and resources in Europe.

There is a clear requirement to achieve this through a single point of contact and coordination in each European country (National Competence Center) for the implementation and coordination of all necessary activities at the national level. This includes:

  • Orchestration of already existing organizations, services, training activities in the specific national economy
  • Development of improved and new support activities.
  • Clearly defined business models for interaction with different groups of potential customers
  • Promoting and creating awareness at national and international level
  • Maximizing synergy (exchange and support of best practices) with other European countries.

For more information visit: https://www.eurocc-project.eu/

About CASTIEL

The CASTIEL Coordination and Support Project (CSA) implements cross-European networking activities between the National Competency Centers (NCCs) on HPC-related topics addressed through the EuroCC project.

The main goal of the CASTIEL project is to promote cooperation and exchange of expertise throughout the EuroCC network, through training, industry cooperation, business development, technology awareness and HPC-related expertise.

As center for exchange of information and trainings, CASTIEL will develop a competency map across Europe that will present the available resources and knowledge gaps in all EuroCC competence centers. This will foster potential collaboration, exchange of best practices, sharing of knowledge and expertise between different nations to effectively bridge and close skills gaps.

CASTIEL will coordinate activities related to international workshops, mentoring and twinning partnerships, as well as the establishment of specific working groups to address issues of common interest.

For more information visit: https://www.castiel-project.eu/