HPC for Regional and Community Competitiveness

HPC for Regional and Community Competitiveness

HPC for Regional and Community Competitiveness
Focus on Artificial Intelligence, Infrastructure, and Regional Development

The event “HPC for Regional and Community Competitiveness” was held in Brussels, gathering around 80 experts, institutional representatives, academics, and industry leaders to discuss the strategic role of High-Performance Computing (HPC) in digital transformation and the competitiveness of European regional communities.

Alessia Bizzarri, Policy Assistant to the Director at the European Commission (DG CNECT), opened the proceedings by emphasizing the enabling role of HPC for artificial intelligence and numerous critical applications. She outlined the activities of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a key institution for the development of European HPC and quantum infrastructures.
Among the most significant initiatives, she presented AI Continent, the action plan that envisions the creation of 13 AI Factories across 17 member states, supported by €10 billion in investments by 2027. Applications will vary at the national level: in Italy, they will focus on healthcare, education, culture, agritech, environment, and cybersecurity.
Bizzarri also introduced the concept of AI Factory Antennas, national hubs designed to ensure distributed access to computational resources and support the local development of AI solutions.

Also at the forefront was Andrea Zanella, Vice-Rector of the University of Padua, who presented the activities of the Comunità Veneta per il Calcolo Scientifico (CONVECS). The initiative aims to democratize access to scientific computing through a shared, modular, and sustainable infrastructure. Priorities include personalized training, intelligent resource management, and reducing environmental impact through energy-efficient consumption policies. CONVECS represents a concrete example of synergy between academic institutions and the region.

Completing the European picture:

• Philippe Geuzaine, General Manager of the Belgian center CENAERO, presented the capabilities of the Lucia supercomputer and its use in sectors such as aerospace, energy, automotive, and marine biology, with intense integration between AI and numerical simulation.

• Stefan Weckx, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, outlined the activities of the Vlaams Supercomputer Centrum (VSC), the main HPC infrastructure in Flanders, and announced the imminent arrival of a new Level 1 supercomputer to strengthen the region’s computational capacity.

The meeting reaffirmed the strategic role of HPC as a lever for European innovation, highlighting the need for coordinated investments and multi-level collaboration to maximize the potential of local expertise and resources.