Central European Working Group in Slovenia
On May 19, 2025, we met with representatives of National Competence Centres for High-Performance Computing (HPC) from Central European countries. The in-person meeting of the Central European Working Group, held in Slovenia, provided us with an exceptional opportunity to exchange experiences, strengthen regional cooperation, and discuss the shared challenges and opportunities we face within the EuroCC project. We built professional relationships and engaged in constructive discussions with representatives from neighboring countries that, like Slovakia, are running their national HPC competence centres and working on their continuous development. Such meetings play an important role in shaping common approaches, identifying synergies, and sharing best practices in delivering services to users—whether they are research institutions, the public sector, or businesses.
The National Competence Centre for HPC in Slovakia was represented at the meeting by Halyna Hyryavets, who is responsible for communication, marketing activities, and cross-border cooperation; Tomáš Kollárik, who oversees educational activities; and Božidara Pellegrini, who focuses on facilitating HPC services for the private sector and building partnerships with companies.
As part of the working discussions, we addressed several current topics. We focused on access to EuroHPC JU computing resources, discussed ways to improve training and educational services to better meet user needs, and also explored how to enhance the clarity and accessibility of information through targeted and clear communication.
An important topic of discussion was also the support for companies and startups in accessing HPC infrastructure. We shared our experiences and discussed joint initiatives at the European level. A significant part of the meeting was dedicated to the AI Factories initiative, which represents a new impetus for the development of artificial intelligence in Europe and opens up further opportunities for Slovakia – whether in terms of access to computing capacity, support for innovation, or talent development (even though an AI Factory has not yet been established in Slovakia).
We are glad to have actively contributed to the expert discussions and shared our insights and experiences, which can help further strengthen the HPC ecosystem in the region. We see such in-person meetings as extremely valuable for coordination and effective collaboration across the entire EuroCC network.
We thank the organizers for a well-prepared event and look forward to continuing our joint activities that help bring high-performance computing closer to people, businesses, and institutions across Europe.