Today the Australian Government announced plans to invest $70 million for a new supercomputer at the The Board of Australia’s National Computational Infrastructure (NCI). The funding will be used to replace NCI’s aging Raijin supercomputer.
NCI plays a pivotal role in the national research landscape, and the supercomputer is the centerpiece of NCI’s renowned and tightly integrated, high-performance computing and data environment,” said Chair of the NCI Board, Emeritus Professor Michael Barber. “It means NCI can continue to provide Australian researchers with a world-class advanced computing environment that is a fusion of powerful computing, high-performance ‘big data’, and world-leading expertise that enables cutting-edge Australian research and innovation.
The announcement of funding ensures researchers in 40 universities, five national science agencies, three medical research institutes, and industry will benefit from a boost in computational horsepower, enabling new research that is more ambitious and more innovative than ever before once the new supercomputer is commissioned in early 2019.
The NCI supercomputer is one of the most important pieces of research infrastructure in Australia, he continued. “It is critical to the competitiveness of Australian research and development in every field of scientific and technological endeavour, spanning the national science and research priorities.”
ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said the funding would ensure NCI remains at the centre of Australia’s research needs.
The new NCI supercomputer will be a valuable tool for Australian researchers and industry, and will be central to scientific developments in medical research, climate and weather, engineering and all fields that require analysis of so-called big data, including, of course, astronomy,” Professor Schmidt said.
NCI anticipates the resulting supercomputer will be ranked in the top 25 internationally.
