Capable of performing 10 billion billion operations per second, the supercomputer will be installed at the Minho Advanced Computing Center
In the usual statements to the Press at the end of the Chamber Meeting, which took place this Monday, December 21, the Mayor, Domingos Bragança, announced the installation of a Supercomputer in Guimarães, the result of a memorandum of understanding between the Municipality of Guimarães, the Foundation for Science and Technology and the University of Minho, and a Resolution of the Council of Ministers, which lays the foundations for the installation of the Minho Advanced Computing Center (MACC) in the Science and Technology Park of Guimarães – AvePark.
This achievement is part of one of the objectives of the Action Plan of the Office of the Crisis and Economic Transition, described as a medium-term objective, which is to contribute to the construction of a new model of society that focuses on the development of an economy of digital base, marked by the generation, transmission, access and processing of large amounts of information, embodied in developments such as the internet of things, 5G communications, proximity or high performance computing, artificial intelligence, natural voice processing and virtual and augmented reality, among others. In this sense, the installation of MACC in AvePark must be understood as the result of strategic alignment and concerted efforts between public and private partners.
MACC, a structure that will house the supercomputer and which is intended to provide advanced computing services, was promoted by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in conjunction with the University of Minho, and is part of the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest, as part of the Iberian Advanced Computing Network. The so-called Deucalion is a supercomputer at a small scale, capable of performing 10 billion trades per second, with an architecture on the technology frontier for use by the scientific and business community. It weighs approximately 26 tons and has a dissipation of 1.7 Megawatts of electrical power.
Domingos Bragança told reporters that he will meet this afternoon with the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, and António M. Cunha, President of CCDR-Norte, to continue the initiatives aimed at implementing the MACC in Guimarães. “The installation of this supercomputer – Advanced Computing Center – is part of Portugal’s involvement in the European advanced computing strategy and the Iberian Advanced Computing Network, which will contribute decisively to Portugal’s participation in excellent science and innovation activities involving processes of very demanding calculation and data processing, and their installation and operation will be established by Resolution of the Council of Ministers ”, he concluded.
