Saturday

23rd Sep 2023

Supercomputing lag could prompt EU brain drain

  • Gabriel: 'We need to be very honest with ourselves ... We are not in the top-ten or the top-five in the world' (Photo: European Commission)

The European Union's new commissioner for the digital economy, Mariya Gabriel, has said there is a danger that European computer experts will leave the continent because the bloc is lagging behind in the field of supercomputing.

“We need to be very honest with ourselves,” she told journalists in a briefing in Brussels on Tuesday (29 August).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

“We are not in the top-10 or the top-five in the world when it comes to high-performance computing but we have the potential to do it. That is why we already mobilised some financing for that,” she said.

Supercomputing, also called high-performance computing, is used in a range of areas to carry out advanced simulations, for example to model weather patterns, to detect and treat diseases, or to better understand earthquakes.

The fastest such computer, according to a ranking called the Top 500, is in China, where the second-fastest is also based.

The number three spot is Switzerland, which is not an EU member. The rest of the top-10 is dominated by the United States and Japan.

The first EU country on the list is the United Kingdom, whose meteorological office owns the 11th fastest supercomputer. Spain (13), Italy (14), Germany (17), and France (19) are the other EU states in the top-20.

In 2012, four of the 10 fastest supercomputers were in EU countries.

The EU tries to stimulate research into supercomputing through grants, but has so far taken a soft touch approach with little legislation.

The commission is currently in the process of gathering feedback from stakeholders on whether it should take legislative action. The one-month consultation process ends on Thursday.

“It's very clear: the European Commission alone, or member states alone cannot do it,” said the Bulgarian politician.

“The most important thing is to bring all the efforts together and to have a supercomputing power is also a question of our role in the world,” she added.

“If we don't have the capacity to analyse here, the risk is that it moves abroad. Could it mean that our researchers and our innovators have better chances to go where these supercomputing is functioning better?”, she said.

Western European club

She noted that only nine of the 28 EU member states had joined a European initiative to work together on high-performance computing.

Last March, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain signed a declaration supporting the development of supercomputing.

Since then Belgium and Slovenia also joined. Apart from Slovenia, all signatories are in Western Europe.

“In the next months I will try to bring the others on board and to have a more coherent approach,” said Gabriel.

Risk of polarisation

Speaking more generally about the digital economy, Gabriel warned of "a huge risk of new fragmentations, of new polarisation, of new isolation", between connected and unconnected people.

“Some jobs will be lost, others will be created, and between those two moments there is uncertainty. We need to accompany this process and to accompany the people," she said.

Gabriel became EU commissioner for digital economy and society in July. She was put forward by Bulgaria to join the commission after Kristalina Georgieva left the team.

Georgieva had budget in her portfolio, which was taken over by Gabriel's predecessor, Guenther Oettinger.

At age 38, former MEP Gabriel is the youngest-ever member of the European Commission.

MEPs to grill youngest ever EU commissioner

Mariya Gabriel, a Bulgarian MEP, is designated to take up the EU commission's digital affairs portfolio, although she has little experience with that file.

EU recycles old promise to fund supercomputers

The European Commission promised that the EU would spend around €1bn in public funding on the development of 'supercomputers', but a closer look at the legal documents revealed that this is based on old promises.

Opinion

Taking full benefit of supercomputers in Europe

Newly-announced financial help for so-called 'supercomputers' can help both EU member states, and small and medium-sized companies to grow - in fields such as health diagnostics, driverless cars and even earthquake predicting.

AI will destroy more female jobs than male, study finds

About four percent of global female employment is subject to potential automation through generative AI technologies, compared to only 1.4 percent of male employment. The trend is even more pronounced in high-income countries, a new study reveals.

Column

EU lobbying clean-up — what happened to that?

Six months after Qatargate, as institutional inertia and parliamentary privileges weigh in, the sense of gravity and collective resolve have all but disappeared. MEPs show little enthusiasm for reform of the rules that today allow them significant outside paid activities.

Latest News

  1. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  2. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  3. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  4. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  5. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  6. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  7. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  8. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us