On May 12 and 13, the kick-off meeting of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center AI Factory (BSC AI Factory) took place at the headquarters of the initiative's coordinating body, with the project's associated partners from Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Romania. This project is part of a EuroHPC JU initiative, AI Factories, which aims to boost the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions in the business and public ecosystem.
The AI factories, which include the BSC AI Factory, are co-financed by European and national funds and are designed to create a network of access to computing resources to accelerate Europe's digital transformation. Through these factories, Artificial Intelligence will be used by the European business fabric, namely: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), public administration entities and by national researchers, in academic and non-academic contexts.
Portugal was represented at this meeting by João Nuno Ferreira, general coordinator of FCCN, the digital services unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Susana Caetano, manager of the FCT Advanced Computing service, developed by FCCN, and two representatives of the National Center for Advanced Computing: António Sousa and Rui Oliveira.
National participation in the project is part of a joint initiative by Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Romania, represented respectively by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC- CNS), the Foundation for Science and Technology, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the N ational Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI București).
This initiative will give rise to an AI Factory associated with the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan and located in Barcelona.
Webinar on AI Factories on May 20th
The first steps in connecting the project to the community will take place on May 20, at 9:30 a.m., with the session "AI Factories: Open for Business". This webinar is aimed at start-ups, SMEs and innovators who want access to high-performance computing resources.
In this session, those interested can find out how to apply for resources, the different types of access and learn about success stories. The webinar program is now available.
inovIA vouchers launched on June 6th
The FCCN, the digital services unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), will also be launching the InoVIA - Vouchers for Innovation program, an initiative that aims to support startups and national SMEs with free and simplified access to advanced computing resources, including the Deucalion and MareNostrum 5 supercomputers.
These vouchers are also an incentive for companies to access the new AI Factory, mentioned above, in the future.
- Date: June 6, 2025
- Time: 14h00
- Venue: AI Hub Alvalade, Lisbon
- Agenda and records.
