Minister for Innovation visits EPCC
26 February 2024
We were delighted to welcome Richard Lochhead MSP to the Advanced Computing Facility (ACF).
On a tour led by EPCC Director Mark Parsons and Deputy Director Ritchie Somerville, the Minister heard about the history of University of Edinburgh high-performance computing, AI and Data Science, and how this relates to industry and particularly SMEs, and its plans for future developments in high-performance computing. He was shown ARCHER2, the UK's national supercomputing service, and visited the site of the forthcoming UK Exascale service.
The Minister and the team discussed the opportunities for Scottish SMEs, as well as ongoing collaborations with The Scottish Government on harnessing HPC, data, and AI to solve the challenges we collectively want to address and unleash the innovation potential of Scotland.
This is a core element of The University of Edinburgh's Research and Innovation Strategy 2030, and the trifecta of focus areas it has identified: the future of health and care; harnessing data, digital and AI; and tackling the climate and environmental crisis.
Image above shows (left to right): EPCC Director Mark Parsons, Minister for Innovation Richard Lochhead MSP, and EPCC Deputy Director Ritchie Somerville, at the Advanced Computing Facility.
Below: Mark Parsons discusses ARCHER2 with Richard Lochhead MSP.
Further information
UK Exascale announcement: Edinburgh to lead new era of UK supercomputing
The University of Edinburgh's Research and Innovation Strategy 2030
