BANGKOK, 12 July 2021 - The first “EU-ASEAN High-Performance Computing (HPC) Virtual School: System Design and HPC Applications” concluded on 9 July, with a closing event and public panel discussion capping a week-long learning experience for participating students from all ASEAN Member States.
Students engaged in topics on HPC and HPC applications with international luminaries from the EU, ASEAN and Japan, with hands-on and virtual exercises. Cutting-edge technologies were presented, including MeluXina, a supercomputer from the LuxProvide HPC Centre in Luxembourg that was recently launched in June.
Students also took part in a tutorial on LUMI, a EuroHPC world-class supercomputer in Finland. Lecturers from RIKEN Center for Computational Science Japan, home of the world’s number one supercomputer Fugaku, discussed ways in which natural disaster risks and life science can be successfully tackled with HPC among other subjects.
Participants acknowledged the progress of the HPC field in ASEAN, thanks to the virtual school on the final day. The panel discussion: The Future of High-Performance Computing, live-streamed on the ASEAN Secretariat YouTube Channel and EU in ASEAN Facebook Page,brought top HPC scientists and practitioners together to debate the future of HPC and its current trends.
“As a home to more than 260 million people living on 17,000 islands across 34 provinces, Indonesia sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, making the archipelago particularly prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions,’’ said Prof. Dwikorita Karnawati, Head of Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, and panelist in the discussion.
‘’Thus, HPC is required to foster greater coherence of disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation efforts that provide access to risk information and early warning systems; and strengthen preparedness and response measures,” she concluded.
“Broad exchanges of ideas are essential for science to progress and such international initiatives involving scientists from a variety of countries and disciplines are more than ever a necessity. This is especially true in a competitive domain like high-performance computing that moves forward thanks to cutting edge scientific infrastructures and challenges coming from many different fields,” noted Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council and speaker at the EU-ASEAN HPC Virtual School.
In his closing remarks, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community Satvinder Singh mentioned that the EU has been at the forefront of supporting research and innovation, a role which was reinforced in its efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. “Applications of HPC are critical in the ASEAN Member States. Thus, this virtual school has shown great support for scientific research development in ASEAN. More importantly, it has highlighted the importance of strengthening region-to-region collaboration in research and innovation in the fight against COVID-19 and beyond,” he said.
The EU Ambassador to ASEAN, H.E. Igor Driesmans conveyed in his closing remarks that the EU and ASEAN are regional organizations bound by 44 years of solidarity and partnership. “Modelling and high-performance computing, as well as infrastructure platforms and projects, can help solve challenges in these difficult times. The EU-ASEAN HPC Virtual School has shed a particular light on the use of HPC systems in dealing with COVID-19,” he concluded.
Students who completed the five-day virtual school received digital certificates of participation, while the top ten students received certificates of excellence for their achievements.
Since the need for a shared ASEAN HPC facility by the ASEAN HPC Task Force was identified in 2018, a strong interest was expressed in cooperating with European and international experts to benefit from sharing of regional resources, training capacities, and experience with HPC applications.
The “EU-ASEAN High-Performance Computing (HPC) Virtual School: System Design and HPC Applications” is the demand-driven outcome of that interest, in line with the 1 December 2020 EU-ASEAN Joint Ministerial Statement on Connectivity.
After this first school, the possibility of organising an in-person annual curriculum, rotating among the ASEAN Member States, for the future will be considered, once again developed with the strength of cross-regional collaboration.
Visit hpcschool.net to learn more.
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For more information, please contact:
EU Delegation to ASEAN, Programme Manager, Pierre Destexhe: Pierre.DESTEXHE@eeas.europa.eu
E-READI, Communication & Outreach Expert, Pema Domingo-Barker: ereadi@asean.org
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967. The ASEAN Member States are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. On 31 December 2015, the ASEAN Community was formally established. The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta.
The European Union (EU) is the economic and political union of 27 Member States. Together, the European Union has built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the goals of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The European Union is the world's largest trading bloc, and the world's largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. Collectively, the European Union and its member countries are the largest donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA), providing more than half of ODA globally.
The 27 Member States of the European Union (in alphabetical order) are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) is a development cooperation instrument that facilitates cooperation and dialogue between the EU and ASEAN in policy areas of joint interest. Drawing on the EU’s experience of regional integration, E-READI further strengthens both the ASEAN regional integration process as well as the overall ASEAN-EU strategic partnership.