Peter Woods, ICHEC

ICHEC to host €1m small business accelerator

Six companies will get the chance to exploit business potential of high-performance computing
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Peter Woods, ICHEC

2 February 2021

Irish small and medium enterprises will be able to avail of free high-performance and supercomputing resources under a new SME accelerator programme from the European Competence Centre in Ireland (EuroCC_Ireland), hosted at the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC).

The programme is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European HPC project and is valued at €1 million.

It is envisaged that six companies will receive ICHEC support for a minimum of six months. 

“The EuroCC in Ireland is offering fast-track access for academics and SMEs to European exascale supercomputing resources,” said Peter Woods, business development manager, ICHEC (pictured). “Many companies understand the opportunity HPC and AI have for their business but lack the skills to exploit these technologies. This SME Accelerator will bridge that gap.

“Bringing skills in HPC and AI into SMEs is now being prioritised in Europe and in Ireland as part of the Euro HPC Joint Undertaking, a joint initiative between the EU, European countries and private partners to develop a World Class Supercomputing Ecosystem in Europe. It is a fully funded service which SMEs can avail of.”

Woods added: “Over the coming weeks we will provide detailed guidance on the process which companies will need to follow to apply for a place in the Accelerator. We are keen to get started incubating companies by the end of Q1 2021.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for these companies, free of cost to them which will bring them up-to-speed in these new and exciting technologies. We look forward to working with them to support their ideas and models.”

EuroCC_Ireland is one of 32 EuroCC centres across Europe as part of the EuroHPC project to increase competitiveness in European supercomputing.

Dr Bastian Koller, manager and acting director of the High-Performance Computing Centre Stuttgart, where the EuroCC project is being co-ordinated from, said: “EuroCC is an important pillar in the overall strategy for High Performance Computing in Europe and a natural next step within the EuroHPC Joint Undertakings mission. Strengthening competences in all the participating states will lead to a strong and capable HPC Ecosystem in Europe and increase its competitiveness in a global context.

“With a budget of over €56 million in total which includes funding from the EU via the Horizon 2020 programme and funding by the different countries, this is an important and focused action to boost the capabilities of the individual European member states. EuroHPC has committed €500,000 for Irish SMEs which is matched by an equivalent investment by the Irish Government.”

For more information visit https://www.ichec.ie/eurocc/smeaccelerator/how-to-apply.

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