What is EuroCC?

On 1 st of September the EuroCC and Castiel two new projects to boost European HPC knowledge and opportunities have started.

Within the EuroCC project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 (H2020), participating countries are tasked with establishing a single National Competence Centre (NCC) in the area of high-performance computing (HPC) in their respective countries. These NCCs will coordinate activities in all HPC-related fields at the national level and serve as a contact point for customers from industry, science, (future) HPC experts, and the general public alike. The EuroCC project is funded 50 percent through H2020 (EuroHPC Joint Undertaking [JU]) and 50 percent through national funding programs within the partner countries.

Who is on board?

The EuroCC activities—with 33 member and associated countries on board—is coordinated by the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS). The project aims to elevate the participating countries to a common high level in the fields of HPC, HPDA and artificial intelligence (AI). To this end, the EuroCC project will establish National Competence Centres (NCCs) in the participating countries, which will be responsible for surveying and documenting the core HPC, HPDA, and AI activities and competencies in their respective countries. Ultimately, the goal is to make HPC available to different users from science, industry, public administration, and society.

What is CASTIEL?

The Coordination and Support Action (CSA) CASTIEL leads to cross-European networking activities between National Competence Centres (NCCs) in HPC-related topics addressed through the EuroCC project. CASTIEL emphasises training, industrial interaction and cooperation, business development, raising awareness of HPC-related technologies and expertise. As a hub for information exchange and training, CASTIEL promotes networking among NCCs and strengthens idea exchange by developing best practices. The identification of synergies, challenges, and possible solutions is implemented through the close cooperation of the NCCs at a European level.

What is the relationship between CASTIEL and EuroCC?

CASTIEL, the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) closely associated with EuroCC, combines the National Competence Centres (NCC) formed in EuroCC into a pan-European network. The aggregation of HPC, HPDA, and AI competencies demonstrates the global competitiveness of the EU partners. The two activities are the beginning of a strategic positioning of the European HPC competence and will contribute to the comprehensive independence of the mentioned technologies in Europe.