National Competence Centre for HPC at the spring edition of ITAPA 2021
The spring edition of the largest IT conference in Slovakia - ITAPA- took place in Bratislava on June 10, 2021. The EuroCC project. project and the National Competence Center for High-Performance Computing was again represented at this event. Lukáš Demovič, director of the Centre of Operations of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the Board of the National Supercomputing centre (NSCC) took part in a session about Digital Economics.
Radoslav Repa, Director General of the Digital Agenda Section of MIRRI SR was acting as a moderator of the panel. The main topics were dealing with the pandemic in the context of digitization and utilization of the HPC and AI technologies, as well as quantum computers and blockchain technology in the digital economy. Seven speakers took part in an interesting exchange of ideas and perspectives:
- Ján Zuštiak (AgeVolt)
- Juraj Bárdy (Alistiq)
- Mário Lelovský (IT Association of Slovakia, Digital Coalition)
- Gabriel Galgóci (American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, Centre of AI)
- Vladimír Bužek, (Slovak Academy of Sciences)
- Michal Géci (Impact Hub)
- Lukáš Demovič (Centre of Operations SAS)
The importance of HPC+ tools in science and various domains of industry was explained by L. Demovič during his introductory talk.Doteraz bolo veľmi často HPC alebo superpočítače vnímane ako doména vedcov, akademikov, „hračky“ na ktorých vedci robia základný výskum, ale čoraz viacej táto doména preniká do svetu priemyslu, malých a stredných podnikov…“
The activities of the EuroCC project and National Competence Centre for HPC in Slovakia were emphasized, particularly the support for SMEs and industry subjects in their efforts to adopt HPC solutions. Successful projects and outcomes of the FF4EUROHPC scheme have been cited as examples.
BeeGFS in Practice — Parallel File Systems for HPC, AI and Data-Intensive Workloads 6 Feb - This webinar introduces BeeGFS, a leading parallel file system designed to support demanding HPC, AI, and data-intensive workloads. Experts from ThinkParQ will explain how parallel file systems work, how BeeGFS is architected, and how it is used in practice across academic, research, and industrial environments.
When a production line knows what will happen in 10 minutes 5 Feb - Every disruption on a production line creates stress. Machines stop, people wait, production slows down, and decisions must be made under pressure. In the food industry—especially in the production of filled pasta products, where the process follows a strictly sequential set of technological steps—one unexpected issue at the end of the line can bring the entire production flow to a halt. But what if the production line could warn in advance that a problem will occur in a few minutes? Or help decide, already during a shift, whether it still makes sense to plan packaging later the same day? These were exactly the questions that stood at the beginning of a research collaboration that brought together industrial data, artificial intelligence, and supercomputing power.
Who Owns AI Inside an Organisation? — Operational Responsibility 5 Feb - This webinar focuses on how organisations can define clear operational responsibility and ownership of AI systems in a proportionate and workable way. Drawing on hands-on experience in data protection, AI governance, and compliance, Petra Fernandes will explore governance approaches that work in practice for both SMEs and larger organisations. The session will highlight internal processes that help organisations stay in control of their AI systems over time, without creating unnecessary administrative burden.



