HPC Wales – the £40million High Performance Computing project – took centre stage at Westminster tonight (Wednesday, May 11).
HPC Wales will had an audience of ‘movers and shakers’ for a presentation which outlined the bold ambitions for the project.
The newly chief executive of HPC Wales, David Craddock, made the main presentation to an audience of MPs, Peers and Welsh University Vice-Chancellors.
Speaking beforehand Mr Craddock said: “It is a great opportunity for HPC Wales to get its message across to some very important decision-makers.
“I will be putting the spotlight on the collaborative nature of the project and the support we have had from the Welsh Assembly Government, BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), HEFCW (Higher Education Funding Council for Wales) and all the universities in Wales.
“I will also be putting the focus on the economic driver for the project – how HPC Wales will speed up innovation and give Welsh businesses a cutting edge.
“And I will be stressing the sustainable nature of the project. HPC Wales is set up in such a way that after the initial investment we will be working hard to ensure it can become a sustainable project delivering real and measurable benefits for Wales.
HPC Wales will provide a world-class super computing network, a research and innovation institute and a skills academy.
The project now enters a key phase following the announcement that global technology giant Fujitsu is the successful bidder to partner with the universities in Wales to create the computer project, which will stretch to the four corners of Wales and take its place as part of a global high performance network.
The contract is worth £15 million over four years to Fujitsu, who will provide infrastructure and services, working with Microsoft and Intel.
Professor Noel Lloyd (pictured), chairman of the special purpose vehicle set up to manage and govern the project and Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University, said: “HPC Wales represents a tremendous opportunity to develop high performance computing provision in Wales. It will give Wales the most advanced and evolving computing technology available.
“It is an ambitious project. It aims to provide user-focussed project services and training in high performance computing for researchers in businesses and universities with the specific objective of speeding up the innovation of new products and services.
“If we can do this successfully, we will make Welsh businesses more competitive in global markets and help to grow the knowledge economy.”
“HPC Wales is an excellent example of universities in Wales working together for a common purpose. The team work and cooperation has been outstanding and an excellent indicator of the future.”
Mr Craddock said: “HPC Wales is a unique collaborative venture in that the universities, with support from the Welsh Assembly, Welsh European Funding Office and UK Government, have joined forces to establish a charitable company that will deliver the project over the next four years. The challenge over that period will be to deliver economic benefit and to establish a sustainability plan that takes us beyond the funding period.
“Collaborative ventures offer a big management challenge and we could not have got this far without the support of our funders, the Vice-Chancellors of our universities, and many dedicated individuals who have worked enthusiastically around the clock for many months to get us this far.”
The event in Westminster has been organised by Higher Education Wales.
Elizabeth Ross, events and administration coordinator for Higher Education Wales, said: “We are delighted to be working with HPC Wales to help promote a hugely innovative and ambitious project which will deliver benefits for Wales.
“We hope the audience of MPs, Peers and university Vice-Chancellors will be very impressed by what they hear.”
For more information visit the HPC Wales website at http://www.hpcwales.co.uk
