The race to exascale is starting to present some interesting questions that go way beyond technology discussions. At the very core of recent deep thinking, is the discussion of responsibility, accountability and funding. The R&D expense associated with exascale will be staggering. What price are we willing to pay, real dollars and non-monetary? And who’s going to foot the bill? Government agencies? Private industry? Which is a heavier burden, responsibility to taxpayers, or responsibility to shareholders? And even deeper than that discussion: should we even be pursuing exascale at such an aggressive rate in order to hit a pre-determined milestone?

To discuss many of these questions, The Exascale Report sat down with one of our industry’s true thought leaders, a man who knows a lot about shareholder accountability, Pete Ungaro, CEO of Cray.

The Exascale Report: First off, how about a reality check. General opinion has everyone targeting an exascale system by the year 2018. Is this achievable?