Author: Halyna Hyryavets

The 9th annual cybersecurity community event Qubit Conference Prague 2022 offers its delegates excellent speakers, leading key cyber topics, keynotes, case studies, educational sessions, panel discussions and popular networking events. Two full days of top cybersecurity community event, providing both in-person and virtual experiences, are designed to give you a mix of opportunities for learning, networking, and collaboration.

Qubit Conference Prague is a cybersecurity community event connecting the East and West. Over the past years, Qubit Conference has grown to be a leading cybersecurity event in CEE region, bringing the latest cybersecurity news and knowledge to the community of cyber professionals. Following the previous eight years of success, the conference is expanding further and is bringing the conference back to Prague. Being held again in the “Rooftop of Europe” and Bohemian capital on May 25 – 26, community partners and cyber professionals from all over the world gather for two full days of engaging and inspiring educational sessions brought by some of the brightest minds in the cyber space.

Qubit Conference Prague 2022 is a unique way to meet the best and the brightest minds in the information security fields across multiple industries, and all carrier levels.

What you can expect:

• 220+ C-level managers, experts & practitioners at a unique cyber community event
• Excellent speakers and educational sessions
• Popular networking events, VIP receptions and exclusive meeting opportunities
• Pre-conference hands-on trainings
  

Qubit’s mission is to bring together and build a community of knowledge and information sharing for the industry’s experts and professionals through networking & education events. That is the reason why Qubit Conference aims to create space for the community of cybersecurity professionals to join in on inspiring, highly professional technical and strategical presentations and educational sessions, enjoy trainings with professional approach and experience friendly community atmosphere surrounded by key decision makers and experts in the field of cybersecurity.

Attending Qubit Conference Prague 2022 is an excellent opportunity to educate yourself, promote your company and meet new partners and fellow colleagues from the cybersec market. Connect with the event today and explore the latest innovations and ideas that are carving tomorrow‘s industry landscape.

Thanks to the media cooperation of the National Competence Center for HPC and Qubit Conference, you can now use the 10% discount code: QP22EUROCC10.

JOIN QUBIT CONFERENCE PRAGUE 2022!

The workshop will take place in person in Slovakia and participants will have the opportunity to gain a comprehensive theoretical overview and practical experience with quantum Monte Carlo methods and their molecular (Quantum Package and CHAMP codes) and periodic systems (TurboRVB). The lectures and trainings will be led by experts who are part of the European Center of Excellence TREX.

Main goals:

• Provide participants a general overview of QMC foundations and their adaptation to simulations of molecular and periodic systems.
• Provide an overview of the hot current topics in molecular, crystalline and low-dimensional systems. 
• Provide hands-on experience with practical QMC simulations based on CHAMP and TurboRVB simulation codes.
  

Registration will be open soon!

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Part of the lectures is planned as a sequence focusing on the applications of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Come and listen to Slovak experts and take the opportunity to discuss with them in an informal atmosphere!

We would like to invite scientists, students and also the general public - all those who are interested in the topic of supercomputing. Research and development relying on high-performance calculations has multidisciplinary character and the knowledge of the basic modeling and simulation methods, programming languages and operating systems can be of a great advantage. This semester we will first look at the quantum Monte Carlo methods, considered very promising for utilizing the next generation exascale supercomputers. We will learn about the important role the high performance computers play in weather forecasting. Subsequently, we will focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence topic with lectures covering the basics as well as specific applications.

We plan to organize the lectures in a hybrid mode so it is possible to attend them in person. However, due to the unpredictable pandemic situation and constantly changing rules for mass events, we will inform you about the lecture format via our website and social networks approximately one week before each individual event.

You may look forward to the following lectures and speakers - and we look forward to see you!

• Modelling of 2D systems properties using the Quantum Monte Carlo methods – Ivan Štich z Fyzikálneho ústavu SAV (15. februára)
• Use of HPC in operational weather forecast in Slovakia - Jozef Vivoda from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (March 1)
• Introduction to artificial neural networks and evolutionary algorithms – Ivan Sekaj z Ústavu robotiky a kybernetiky, FEI STU (15. marca)
• Deep learning and its basic applications for computer vision – Andrej Lúčny z Katedry informatiky FMFI UK (29. marca)
• Úvod do aplikácií zložitých výpočtov v medicíne – Zuzana Černeková z oddelenia počítačovej grafiky a videnia, Katedra aplikovanej informatiky FMFI UK a Peter Bluska z Rádiológia s.r.o.  (12. apríla)
• TheUse of ML / AI for applications in chemistry - potential drugs on Covid-19 – Marián Gall z Výpočtového strediska SAV (26. apríla)
• Current problems of reinforcement learning – Michal Chovanec zo spoločnosti  Tachyum (10. mája)
• Natural and artificial intelligence – Tomáš Hrodmádka z Neuroimunologickeho ústavu SAV (24. mája)
  

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The following panel discussion, organized with the support of the NCC, highlighted the situation in HPC in Slovakia. Lukáš Demovič, who is the director of the Centre of Operations,  Slovak Academy of Sciences - an institution operating the only publicly available HPC infrastructure – spoke about the current possibilities, ongoing projects and ambitious plans for significant expansion of computational capacities in Slovakia. The importance of investments and support of this field was stressed also by other speakers. Prof. Ivan Štich, who is active within the TREX CoEshowed use cases of 2D materials modelling using the QMC method,, which is, thanks to it’s robustness and scalability, especially suited for utilizing the coming exascale systems. Prof. Mária Bieliková from the Kempelen institute of intelligent technologies introduced a newly developed large neural language model for Slovak. She also mentioned the aspect of large energy consumption that comes with many AI applications and models together with the strategies scientists employ to mitigate this problem. Jozef Vivoda described models for numerical weather forecasting, employed and (co)developed at the Slovak hydrometeorological institutetheir level of precision as well as computational demands. Robert Cisár from the Tachyum company and Luboš Kolář from HPE took part in the discussion as representatives from the private sector.

All speakers agreed on the necessity of investing into HPC technologies at the national level and the importance of supporting the whole ecosystem at the same time. The lack of concept on the state level and the lengthy and disproportionately complicated process of public procurement were identified as main problems when planning and purchasing new supercomputers. The National competence centre is focusing it’s efforts primarily on building the supporting ecosystem and raising the adoption of HPC tools and connected technologies across all sectors. Without an available HPC infrastructure, however, this task remains a challenge.

Speakers' presentations:
How is Slovakia doing with supercomputing? – Lukáš Demovič.
HPC and numeric weather forecast in Slovakia -Jozef Vivoda.
Who can afford artificial intelligence today? – Mária Bieliková.
Is a supercomputer suitable only for science? – Robert Cisár.
2D semiconductor modeling by exascale computing methods – Ivan Štich.
The supercomputer is not just about computing power – Luboš Kolář.
Why do we need supercomputers? Discussion.

Computational power increased thanks to new technologies and innovations in semiconductor device fabrication and enabled doubling the number of components per integrated circuit every two years – this trend is described by the Moore’s law. However, we are now approaching physical limits in this area.

Another way of speeding up calculations is to use parallel approach, supported by today’s supercomputer architectures, including high-speed interconnecting network. Doc. Šperka described the history from the first parallel vector computers and Cray-1 supercomputer up to modern supercomputers.

Lecture series is a joint activity of the Computer museum COO SAS and National Competence Center for HPC. NCC, as the primary contact point for HPC in Slovakia, covers, among other things, educational and dissemination activities in this area.

You can watch the recording of the event on Facebook and YouTube and you can already register for our next lectures. Schedule and registration:

•  10. novembra 2021 o 17:00 – Operation systems in multiprocessor clusters
  Dušan Bernát (Faculty of mathematics, physics and informatics, Comenius University)
•  November 23, 17:00 - Short guide to software parallelization
  Jaroslav Suchánek (Biomedical Research Center, SAS)
•  December 7, 17:00 - Federated distributed computing
  Ladislav Hluchý (Institute of Informatics SAS)
•  December 21, 17:00 - Modelling of 2D systems properties using the Quantum Monte Carlo methods
  Ivan Štich (Institute of Physics SAS)

More information about the series

Registration

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There are a lot of HPC users in Slovakia that work with this type of applications and algorithms in their research. As one of the developers of chemical modelling methods Pavel also elaborated on his experience with effective software parallelization and described the main issues in the implementation. Although the computational cost of these methods is prohibitive for modelling larger systems, they are used for calibrating of other methods capable of describing and predicting properties of complex molecules, such as new drugs or materials.

Lecture series is a joint activity of the Computer museum COO SAS and National Competence Center for HPC. NCC, as the primary contact point for HPC in Slovakia, covers, among other things, educational and dissemination activities in this area.

You can watch the recording of the event on Facebook and YouTube and you can already register for our next lectures. Schedule and registration:

• October 26, 17:00 - Development of technology and computer architecture – from 1-processor serial computers to supercomputers
  Martin Šperka (Computer Museum, COO SAS)
•  November 9, 17:00 - Operation systems in multiprocessor clusters
  Dušan Bernát (Faculty of mathematics, physics and informatics, Comenius University)
•  November 23, 17:00 - Short guide to software parallelization
  Jaroslav Suchánek (Biomedical Research Center, SAS)
•  December 7, 17:00 - Federated distributed computing
  Ladislav Hluchý (Institute of Informatics SAS)
•  December 21, 17:00 - Modelling of 2D systems properties using the Quantum Monte Carlo methods
  Ivan Štich (Institute of Physics SAS)

More information about the series

Registration

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Experts from the POP CoE offer a portfolio of services designed to help users optimise parallel software and understand performance issues. Whilst primary customers are code developers & owners services, (which is free of charge) of the POP CoE are also available to code users and infrastructure & service centres.

PoP CoE already has 21 successful partnerships with universities and SMEs. They already helped to optimize the software, identify its problem parts and clarify how the algorithms of individual applications work on the HPC infrastructure. Watch a webinar on the experience of SMEs in Europe using PoP services:

Services provided by POP:

• Parallel Application Performance Assessment;
• Proof-of-Concept Projects;
• Seminars and Workshops.

If you are insterested in services of the POP CoE do not hesitate to contact National Competence Centre for HPC via eurocc@nscc.sk and we will mediate contact with experts from the IT4I in Ostrava. In order to request services of the POP CoE you can also use Request Service Form. Services are free of charge to organisations / SMEs / ISVs / companies in the EU!

 

More information about POP CoE and their activities:

• POP CoE
• POP Blog
• list of news
• POP Newsletter
• POP organized Events.

Filip Holka, Head of the High-Performance Computing Department, and Lukáš Demovič, Director of COO SAS, took care of the introductory event Current trends and visions in HPC in Slovakia. In the first part, the participants learned how to define a supercomputer, on what technologies today's supercomputers are built, everything that must be taken into account in their design, as well as how to evaluate performance and energy efficiency. The second part of the lecture brought an interesting recapitulation of the history of HPC in Slovakia, but also a description of the current state and capacities in comparison with Europe and the surrounding countries. It is clear that Slovakia needs to invest in HPC infrastructure and support the digitization and use of innovative technologies, if it is to keep up with the rest of Europe. As Slovakia is a part of the European structures PRACE-RI and EuroHPC JU, we also touched on the benefits and opportunities that international cooperation brings to us and our users.

Last but not least, we also focused on initiatives that arose in Slovakia - specifically the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC), whose ambition is to develop HPC infrastructure and support high-performance computing in Slovakia.

The participants used the break with refreshments and coffee for informal conversations and discussions with the organizers and speakers.

You can watch the recording of the event on Facebook and YouTube and you can already register for our next lectures.

Schedule and Registration

•  October 12, 17:00 - Computer simulations and calculations as an essential tool in science
  Pavel Neogrády (Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University)

• October 26, 17:00 - Development of technology and computer architecture – from 1-processor serial computers to supercomputers
  Martin Šperka (Computer Museum, COO SAS)

•  10. novembra 2021 o 17:00 – Operation systems in multiprocessor clusters
  Dušan Bernát (Faculty of mathematics, physics and informatics, Comenius University)

•  November 23, 17:00 - Short guide to software parallelization
  Jaroslav Suchánek (Biomedical Research Center, SAS)

•  December 7, 17:00 - Federated distributed computing
  Ladislav Hluchý (Institute of Informatics SAS)

•  December 21, 17:00 - Modelling of 2D systems properties using the Quantum Monte Carlo methods
  Ivan Štich (Institute of Physics SAS)

More information about the series

Registration
 

 

The goal of the event was a meeting of Slovak and foreign experts in the field of innovation, industry and industrial technologies, energy, transport and logistics, environment and education, as well as a presentation of scientific and innovative potential of Slovak technological companies.

The National competence centre for HPC. was also present at the International Innovation and Technology Fair SlovakiaTech Forum - EXPO 2021. At the exhibition, we introduced the participants to NCC for HPC, explaining what is a supercomputer and high-performance computing. We also introduced our services, which include the provision of consultations, mediation of partnerships, free IT courses and the provision of machine time. Through the questionnaire, we found out how Slovakia is doing with high-performance computing, what companies and institutions in Slovakia have experience with it, where they see obstacles and in which areas they need consultations.  

The National Competence Centre for High-Performance Computing was established thanks to the European project EuroCC portal which is implemented in Slovakia by the Center for Joint Activities of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

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The primary goal of the survey is to map the usage of HPC and associated technologies and to identify the demand for these technologies and solutions among Slovak private companies, small and medium enterprises, academic research groups and in public administration. This information is crucial for developing strategies, goals and services for the future National competence centre activities. According to the OECD publication SME Entrepreneurship Policy in Slovak Republic“*   the SMEs are facing several barriers in their digital transformation, such as lack of knowledge and experience. The National competence centre enables the knowledge transfer and adoption of HPC, HPDA, AI and ML technologies, where the benefits for private companies include competitive advantage on the market, effective processes, ROI and cost savings.

„“Apart from these activities the National competence centre has an ambition to facilitate the collaboration between experts and end-users coming from various areas and sectors. This survey will help us to identify experts in specific application fields, such as processing big data, advanced simulations and machine learning/artificial intelligence technologies.”  the coordinator of the project, Lucia Demovičová, stated.

The survey will also provide information about the computational capacities and resources required at the moment and into the future in Slovakia. Actual local data from Slovak HPC users, including the potential future ones, will be valuable in planning the new high-performance systems and developing the national HPC infrastructure.

The NCC was established within the EuroCC project implemented by the Centre of Operations of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. As a primary contact point for users and all parties interested in HPC in Slovakia the NCC provides several services free of charge that might be interesting for scientific teams, but also the private sector and public administration. Education activities, consultancy and access to computational resources are among the portfolio of NCC services that are meant to support the innovation potential and competitiveness in Slovakia.

Mapping of the HPC environment

* OECD (2021), SME Entrepreneurship Policy in Slovak Republic, OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9097a251-en.