“The RISC2 project has proven to be a team effort in which European and Latin American partners worked together to drive HPC collaboration forward. We have been able to create a lively and active community across the Atlantic to stimulate dialogue and boost cooperation that won’t die with RISC2’s formal end”, says Fabrizio Gagliardi, manager director of RISC2.

Since 2021, this knowledge-sharing network has organised webinars, summer schools, meetings with policymakers and participated in conferences and dissemination events on both sides of the Atlantic. The project also resulted in the HPC Observatory Repository — a collection of documents and training materials produced as part of the project – and the White Paper on HPC R&I Collaboration Opportunities, a document that reviews the key socio-economic and environmental factors and trends that influence HPC needs.

These were two of the issues highlighted by European Commission officials and experts during the final evaluation of the project, which could provide continuity to the work carried out by the consortium over the last three years, in line with the wishes of the partners and the advice of the evaluators. “Beyond RISC2, we should keep the momentum and leverage the importance of Latin America in the frame of the Green Deal actions: HPC stakeholders should encourage policymakers to build bilateral agreements and offer open calls focused on HPC collaboration“, reflects Fabrizio Gagliardi.

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Given the nature of the project, RISC2 could not fail to be represented through its partners and with a strong presence in the event’s program. Carlos J. Barrios, researcher from the Universidad Industrial de Santander and RISC2 partner was responsible for opening CARLA, with his address setting the tone for the conference, emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts and knowledge sharing in furthering the frontiers of HPC.

Fabrizio Gagliardi, the coordinator of RISC2, also took center stage with a special talk that introduced the audience to the mission and objectives of the RISC2 project. The presentation shed light on the pivotal role that RISC2 plays in advancing HPC research and development of the cooperation between the two continents in this field. Gagliardi participated in the EuroHPCLatam panel: Policy and Global Actions, which included representatives from Red Clara, CAF and the Ministry of CyT Colombia. This panel explored the policies and global actions required to propel HPC forward in Latin America, emphasizing collaboration between key stakeholders.

Another highlight of CARLA 2023 was the tribute to Mateo Valero, one of the promoters of RISC2. Valero’s dedication and contributions to the field were celebrated through an award with his name and one he was the first recepient, underscoring the lasting impact of his work on the entire HPC community.

This event was particularly important as it coincided with the end of the RISC2 project and the presentation of its results. Over the course of three years, the initiative has strengthened contacts and promoted the exchange of knowledge between researchers from Latin America and Europe through the organization of nine webinars, the support of several schools, workshops, and other training events in the field for young students and researchers. During this period, RISC2 partners also participated in several conferences and ceremonies with policymakers to raise awareness of the importance of continuing to support and prioritize this area of research in the future.

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The session began with a welcome and introduction by Mateo Valero (BSC), one of the main drivers of this cooperation and a leading name in the field of HPC. This intervention was later complemented by Fabrizio Gagliardi (BSC). Afterward, Elsa Carvalho (INESC TEC) presented the work done in terms of communication by the RISC2 team, an important segment for all the news and achievements to reach all the partners and countries involved.

Carlos J. Barrios Hernandez then presented the work done within the HPC Observatory, a relevant source of information that European and Latin American research organizations can address with HPC and/or AI issues.

The session closed with an important and pertinent debate on how to strengthen cooperation in HPC between the European Union and Latin America, in which all participants contributed and gave their opinion, committing to efforts so that the work developed within the framework of RISC2 is continued.

What our partners had to say about the meeting?

Rafael Mayo Garcia, CIEMAT:

“The policy event organized by RISC2 in Brussels was of utmost importance for the development of HPC and digital capabilities for a shared infrastructure between EU and LAC. Even more, it has had crucial contributions to international entities such as CYTED, the Ibero-American Programme for the Development of Science and Technology. On the CIEMAT side, it has been a new step beyond for building and participating in a HPC shared ecosystem.”

Esteban Meneses, CeNAT:

“In Costa Rica, CeNAT plays a critical role in fostering technological change. To achieve that goal, it is fundamental to synchronize our efforts with other key players, particularly government institutions. The event policy in Brussels was a great opportunity to get closer to our science and technology ministry and start a dialogue on the importance of HPC, data science, and artificial intelligence for bringing about the societal changes we aim for.”

Esteban Mocskos, UBA:

“The Policy Event recently held in Brussels and organized by the RISC2 project had several remarkable points. The gathering of experts in HPC research and management in Latin America and Europe served to plan the next steps in the joint endeavor to deepen the collaboration in this field. The advance in management policies, application optimization, and user engagement are fundamental topics treated during the main sessions and also during the point-to-point talks in every corner of the meeting room.
I can say that this meeting will also spawn different paths in these collaboration efforts that we’ll surely see their results during the following years with a positive impact on both sides of this fruitful relationship: Latin America and Europe.”

Sergio Nesmachnow, Universidad de la República:

“The National Supercomputing Center (Uruguay) and Universidad de la República have led the development of HPC strategies and technologies and their application to relevant problems in Uruguay. Specific meetings such as the policy event organized by RISC2 in Brussels are key to present and disseminate the current developments and achievements to relevant political and technological leaders in our country, so that they gain knowledge about the usefulness of HPC technologies and infrastructure to foster the development of national scientific research in capital areas such as sustainability, energy, and social development. It was very important to present the network of collaborators in Latin America and Europe and to show the involvement of institutional and government agencies.

Within the contacts and talks during the organization of the meeting, we introduced the projecto to national authorities, including the National Director of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and Culture, and the President of the National Agency for Research and Innovation, as well as the Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation and academic authorities from all institutions involved in the National Supercomputing Center initiative. We hope the established contacts can result in productive joint efforts to foster the development of HPC and related scientific areas in our country and the region.”

Carla Osthoff, LNCC:

“In Brazil, LNCC is critical in providing High Performance Computing Resources for the Research Community and training Human Resources and fostering new technologies. The policy event organized by RISC2 in Brussels was fundamental to synchronizing LNCC efforts with other government institutions and international  entities. On the LNCC side, it has been a new step beyond building and participating in an HPC-shared ecosystem.

Specific meetings such as the policy event organized by RISC2 in Brussels  were very important to present the network of collaborators in Latin America and Europe and to show the involvement of institutional and government agencies.

As a result of joint activities in research and development in the areas of information and communication technologies (ICT), artificial intelligence, applied mathematics, and computational modelling, with emphasis on the areas of scientific computing and data science, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed between LNCC and Inria/France. As a  result of new joint activities, LNCC and INESC TEC/Portugal are starting  collaboration through INESC TEC International Visiting Researcher Programme 2023.”

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The Alliance’s aim is to foster the development of secure, resilient and human-centric digital infrastructures on the basis of a values-based framework, ensuring a democratic and transparent enabling environment and putting a strong emphasis on privacy and digital rights. It is the first intercontinental digital partnership agreed between both regions under Global Gateway investment strategy, the EU’s offer for trusted and sustainable connections with partner countries.

More information here.

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The event was organized by the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks, RedCLARA, composed of National Research Networks (NRNs) representatives. The Uruguayan Advanced Network (RAU) hosted the dialogue.

Officials from Latin America and the Caribbean discussed the value of digital tools for the academic community, the importance of global alliances and the role of NRNs as articulators of this whole process. The aim was to determine the key elements to build a common development agenda based on digital, among other topics.

RISC2 leveraged this opportunity to present the project’s objectives to an audience beyond the specific HPC community.

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The RISC2 main result will be a cooperation roadmap targeting policymakers, the scientific and industrial communities, identifying key application areas, HPC infrastructure and policy requirements, and exploring ways for the activities established during the project to last beyond its lifetime.

This document is organized in 3 sections. The first one introduces this report, describing precedents, objectives, and methodological approach, and shares an overview of the strategic importance of HPC, computational and data sciences. The second section addresses the Latin American HPC landscape by representing an overview of the HPC activity in the region and then focuses on the targeted country though seven national reports. The last section advances on recommendations for Latin America to encourage sustainability in RDI in HPC and strengthen bi-regional collaborations.

Read the White Paper on RDI in Latin America here. 

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In addition, Latin American countries have signed bilateral science and technology (S&T) agreements with the European Commission (EC). Within this framework, both parties participate in setting common principles, goals and conditions necessary to ensure a level playing field for researchers from both sides of the Atlantic. Brazil and Mexico recently signed new bilateral S&T agreements with the EC in November 2021 and March 2022, respectively. Co-funding schemes signed by the EC and their counterparts (Conacyt in Mexico; CNPq, FINEP and CONFAP in Brazil) support national partners participating in successful Horizon Europe projects.

These initiatives aim to encourage participation from Latin American entities in Horizon Europe calls, strengthening bilateral relations between the EU and Latin American countries, especially in research topics with a supranational scope (climate change, disease prevention, and renewable energies, for example).

A successful example of bilateral co-funding was the project ENERXICO (2019-2021), which received grants from Horizon 2020 and the Mexican Department of Energy (CONACYT-SENER Hidrocarburos).

ENERXICO applied HPC techniques to energy industry simulations of critical interest to Mexico: oil & gas industry in upstream, midstream and downstream problems, wind energy industry and combustion efficiency for transportation. The main objectives of the project were:

• Develop beyond state-of-the-art high-performance simulation tools for the energy industry
• Increase the oil & gas reserves using geophysical exploration for subsalt reservoirs
• Improve refining and transport efficiency of heavy oil
• Develop a robust wind energy sector to mitigate oil dependency
• Improve fuel generation using biofuels

The consortium, coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the Mexican National Institute for Nuclear Research (ININ), included stakeholders from academia and the energy industry from the EU and Mexico.

Strengthening international cooperation goes beyond improving bilateral relations; S&T collaboration between regions can encourage increased multilateral research ecosystems within these regions, helping bridge the gaps in the Latin American scientific field due to the absence of a common regional funding source.

By Barcelona Supercomputing Center

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This first online workshop gathered 20 participants each day to discuss the main challenges for such a convergence and present ongoing related works.  The workshop also aimed to foster more focused cooperation between partners.

The event was moderated by Stéphane Lanteri, from Inria, and had the participation of Daniele Lezzi, from Barcelona Supercomputing Center, António Tadeu Gomes and Kary Ocaña, from LNCC, José Moríñigo, from CIEMAT, Alvaro Coutinho, from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Marta Mattoso, from COPPE/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Patrick Valduriez, from Inria.

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Mexico has a solid tradition in scientific research and education and has excellent human resources in the computer science field. Participants focused on promoting cooperation between supercomputing centers across the country. With that aim, they focused on the need to improve connectivity and engage on networks that allow for efficient and effective coordination among centers.

Leveraging from other cooperation-focused initiatives, like the Red Española de Supercomputación (RES) in Spain and PRACE at the European level, the Mexican HPC community is seeking to kick-off a nationwide collaboration network.

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