NeIC Conference 2013: Report on "Opening Session"

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"Welcome" (Petter Kongshaug)

- High quality networks and federated access needed

- Tools and services (HPC, storage, visualization) needed for collaboration between research partners

- Have reached a "turning point" in HPC. Misc. tools are getting developed, access easier, etc

- NeIC is working closely with the local organizations such as SNIC.

- Important to sync activities in the Nordics

- This conference should be the starting point for the next level of Nordic collaboration

"Official opening" (Pål Sørgaard)

- Moving towards Exaflops

- We can most likely meet the researchers needs based on the current pace in computer development

- We are in a field where things are changing rapidly - the pendlum swings back and forth

- A game change: From sequential devices (mainframes) to grid, cloud and back to centralized architectures

- Nordic countries always played a central role in the development

- Advanced networks are in place

- Mission to collaborate and gather all competence in the Nordic area

- Sharing of data often very complicated and difficult because different rules and challenges. Trust important

"Welcome from NTNU" (Torbjørn Digernes)

- Information technology is an important and great driver

- The development is definitely not slowing down, instead it's accelerating

- What use to be "traditional engineering" have changed with the introduction and increase in computational power.

- If you don't have access to information at the rate needed you will loose your pace compared to others

- Vulnerability: We are getting increasingly dependent on information technology. If the systems break our work is immediately affected.

- Computer systems have probably the shortest lifespan compared to other technical equipment. Around 5Y (from mfg to museum)

- Updating the infrastructure in a clever way over time is a huge challenge

"A Vision for Nordic e-Infrastructure Collaboration" (Gudmund Høst)

- An IT infrastructure is a complicated subject that is getting more and more complex over time

- Hardware and software changes rapidly

- The human asset (the people, the experts) are the sustainable asset that are most important

- How measure success? Research results (such as the Higgs particle), Personal success (such as new positions)

- NeIC is not a funding agency. It's however happy to co-found.

- NeIC is a framework for collaboration that will orchestrate the collaborative work between research groups and countries in the Nordics

- No strict rules apply regarding how the collaboration is performed between researchers or countries

- NeIC have achieved a sustained will/support for 10Y from the Nordic countries

- NeIC would appreciate to get input regarding improved ways for Nordic collaboration and new project ideas.

- Most motivating is to provide solutions that will add value to the researchers


Nordic comparison:

- Sweden: slim layer of coordination, SNIC is a small organisation, 6 centers

- Finland: CSC do both coordination & service

- Norway: Similar to Sweden, slim coordination layer, 4 centers do the service

- Iceland: As Finland but a more slimmed organization

- DK:

"Enabling excellent science through High-Performance Computing" (Kenneth Ruud)

- HPC speeds up the scientific discovery process

- Computations can provide details that are not experimentally observable, allowing the understanding of chemical processes and properties to be refined.

- Certain research wouldn't be possible without HPC assistance

- HPC is key for science

- Industrial examples: Manufacturing: Shortening the lead time, fewer physical prototypes. Oils & Gas: Finding the well with high precision saves time and money.


Some trends in HPC challenges:

- Multiscale problems: symbiosis

- Ensemble averages: real life problems have no clear initial conditions

- Exascale challenges: more than one roadmap, better integration of hw & sw technologies

- BIG data challenge: How to store it? How to analyze it? Very rapidly increase in data size.


EU level:

- Europe should continue to provide world leading HPC infrastructures

- Leadership and management of HPC infrastructure at European level should be a partnership between providers and users

- New challenges require long term committments. A planning horizon of 10-20Y and a rolling 5Y upgrade plan is needed

- Urgent need for development of improved e-Science algorithms and software

- Training programs at different levels are important


Nordic level:

- Can we create Nordic excellence in science through Nordic collaboration in HPC?


Key questions:

- What is needed between EU and the Nordic level?

- Is it financial sustainable to have multiple levels?

- Is the national level needed?

Panel Discussion

Session Summary

  • There is a high degree of trust in the Nordics, for example for government and for research.
  • NeIC has strong political support.
  • Data sharing, and open access are being pushed by the Norwegian government.
  • People are the key part of e-Infrastructure. Hardware & software are ephemeral and/or disposable (5yr life time). People are sustainable.

Lessons Learned

  • As scopes of scientific challenges expand, the need for organising international collaborations increases.
  • Trust is key for information security, and e-Infrastructure must work to maintain and keep earning that trust.
  • Can we create Nordic excellence?
  • Is there a gap between PRACE, Nordic, national levels? Should we keep on funding all of these levels?
  • Can software and hardware co-design help productivity?
  • Can Nordic collaboration increase funding?
  • Nordic perspective will enable e-Infrastructure engagement in new areas.

Future Directions

  • NeIC and NORDUNet must add value nationally, and represent the Nordics in a larger context.
  • NeIC is framework for collaboration, not a company.


Opportunities