Article 4 · Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1173

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Article 4Pillars of activity#

1.The Joint Undertaking shall implement the mission referred to in Article 3 according to the following pillars of activities:

(a)administration pillar, covering the general activities for the operation and management of the Joint Undertaking;

(b)infrastructure pillar, encompassing the activities for the acquisition, deployment, upgrading and operation of the secure, hyper-connected world-class supercomputing, quantum computing and data infrastructure, including the promotion of the uptake and systematic use of research and innovation results generated in the Union;

(c)federation of supercomputing services pillar, covering all activities for providing Union-wide access to federated, secure supercomputing and data resources and services throughout Europe for the research and scientific community, industry, including SMEs, and the public sector, in particular in cooperation with PRACE and GÉANT; those activities shall include:

(i)support to the interconnection of the High Performance Computing, quantum computing and data resources owned fully or partially by the Joint Undertaking or made available on a voluntary basis by the Participating States;

(ii)support to the interconnection of the supercomputing, and quantum computing data infrastructures with the Union’s common European data spaces and federated, secure cloud and data infrastructures;

(iii)support to the development, acquisition and operation of a platform for the seamless federation and secure service provisioning of supercomputing and quantum computing service and data infrastructure, establishing a one-stop shop access point for any supercomputing or data service managed by the Joint Undertaking, providing any user with a single point of entry;

(d)technology pillar, addressing ambitious research and innovation activities for developing a world-class, competitive and innovative supercomputing ecosystem across Europe addressing hardware and software technologies, and their integration into computing systems, covering the whole scientific and industrial value chain, for contributing to the Union’s strategic autonomy; it shall also focus on energy-efficient High Performance Computing technologies, contributing to environmental sustainability; those activities shall address inter alia:

(i)low-power micro-processing components, interconnection components, system architecture and related technologies such as novel algorithms, software codes, tools, and environments;

(ii)emerging computing paradigms and their integration into leading supercomputing systems through a co-design approach; these technologies shall be linked with the development, acquisition and deployment of high-end supercomputers, including quantum computers, and infrastructures;

(iii)technologies and systems for the interconnection and operation of classical supercomputing systems with other, often complementary computing technologies, such as quantum computing or other emerging computing technologies and ensure their effective operation;

(iv)new algorithms and software technologies that offer substantial performance increases;

(e)application pillar, addressing activities for achieving and maintaining European excellence in key computing and data applications and codes for science, industry, including SMEs, and the public sector; those activities shall address inter alia:

(i)applications, including new algorithms and software developments, for public and private users that benefit from the exploitation of the resources and capabilities of high-end supercomputers and their convergence with advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, high performance data analytics, cloud technologies, etc. through the co-design, development and optimisation of High Performance Computing-enabled large-scale and emerging lead-market codes and applications;

(ii)support, among others, to Centres of Excellence in High Performance Computing in applications and large-scale High Performance Computing-enabled pilot demonstrators and test-beds for big data applications and advanced digital services in a wide range of scientific, public and industrial sectors;

(f)widening usage and skills pillar, aiming at developing capabilities and skills that foster excellence in supercomputing, quantum computing, and data use, taking into account synergies with other programmes and instruments, in particular Digital Europe Programme, widening the scientific and industrial use of supercomputing resources and data applications and fostering the industrial access and use of supercomputing and data infrastructures for innovation adapted to industrial needs, as well as providing Europe with a knowledgeable leading scientific community and a skilled workforce for scientific leadership and digital transformation of industry and public administration, including the support and networking of national High Performance Computing Competence Centres and Centres of Excellence in High Performance Computing;

(g)international cooperation pillar, in line with the external policy objectives and international commitments of the Union, defining, implementing and participating in activities relevant to the promotion of international collaboration in supercomputing to solve global scientific and societal challenges, while promoting competitiveness of the European High Performance Computing supply and user ecosystem;

(h)AI factory pillar for trustworthy and ethical AI, covering activities for the provision of an AI-oriented supercomputing service infrastructure that aims to further develop the research and innovation capabilities, competences and skills of the AI ecosystem; it shall include the following activities:

(i)the acquisition and operation of AI-optimised supercomputers co-located with data centres or connected to data centres via very high speed networks;

(ii)the upgrading of existing EuroHPC supercomputers with AI capabilities;

(iii)providing access and fair access opportunities to the AI-optimised supercomputers or EuroHPC supercomputers that have been upgraded with AI capabilities, including widening their use to a large number of public and private users, including startups and small and medium-sized enterprises;

(iv)the operation of centralised or distributed AI-oriented supercomputing service centres in support of the AI startup ecosystem and the research and innovation ecosystem providing algorithmic support, support for the further development, training, testing, evaluation and validation of AI training models and systems, and support for the development of emerging large-scale AI applications in strategic areas such as health and care, climate change, robotics, or connected and automated driving;

(v)the operation of supercomputer-friendly programming facilities, including for the parallelisation of AI applications for optimising the use of supercomputing capabilities;

(vi)the operation of other AI-enabling supercomputing services;

(vii)attracting, pooling and training talent to develop their competences and skills in using the EuroHPC supercomputers for AI;

(viii)interacting with the other AI factories, making their services accessible across Europe and cooperating with the EuroHPC Competence Centres and EuroHPC Centres of Excellence, and with relevant AI initiatives of the Union, such as the hubs of Artificial Intelligence startups, the Artificial Intelligence and data ecosystems, the Artificial Intelligence Testing and Experimentation Facilities, the European central Artificial Intelligence platform, the Artificial Intelligence-oriented Digital Innovation Hubs, the Artificial Intelligence related European Institute of Innovation and Technology Knowledge and Innovation Communities, relevant European research infrastructures and other related initiatives;

(i)AI gigafactory pillar, covering activities of AI gigafactories which in their operation could be connected with the EuroHPC network of AI factories for ensuring seamless integration, user support and knowledge sharing across the European AI ecosystem; this pillar shall include the following activities:

(i)providing a world-class AI computing infrastructure for European researchers, entrepreneurs and industries, including SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and the public sector;

(ii)enabling the development of new AI solutions across all public and private sectors, including the development of foundation models; and

(iii)ensuring the Union’s competitiveness and sovereignty as an AI continent;

(j)quantum technologies pillar, addressing the full quantum ecosystem and the application domains of quantum computing and simulation, quantum communication, and quantum sensing and metrology, ensuring the security and resilience of the quantum supply chain and its enabling technologies; those activities shall address inter alia:

(i)scientific and technological research and innovation: advancing research excellence in quantum science and technology domains;

(ii)transition from the ‘lab-to-the-fab’ and ecosystem development: supporting the development and deployment of state-of-the-art quantum infrastructures; fostering the industrialisation of quantum technologies by supporting the uptake of quantum applications in key public and industrial sectors; ensuring the translation of advances across all quantum domains into real-world applications, including the development of lead markets; promoting European and international standards; and supporting the development and networking of national quantum competence centres across Europe;

(iii)the acceleration of the development and operationalisation of fault-tolerant quantum computing systems relying on public measures to support a competitive European quantum ecosystem and supply chain based on technologies made and designed in Europe;

(iv)skills and talent: developing a competitive and inclusive quantum research and engineering workforce through coordinated education, training and mobility initiatives, across key quantum-related disciplines and technical fields;

(v)international cooperation: developing international collaboration in quantum technologies to solve global scientific and societal challenges, in line with the external policy objectives and international commitments of the Union.

2.In addition to the activities referred to in paragraph 1, the Joint Undertaking may be entrusted with the implementation of additional tasks in the event of cumulative, complementary or combined funding between Union programmes in accordance with the relevant Commission work programme.

Defined terms · 28

Show every defined term

acceptance test
means a test conducted to determine if the requirements of the system specification are met by a EuroHPC supercomputer;
access time
means the computing time of a supercomputer that is made available to a user or a group of users to execute their computer programmes;
affiliated entity
means any legal entity as defined in Article 187(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046;
Centre of Excellence in High Performance Computing
means a collaborative project selected in an open and competitive call for proposals to promote the use of upcoming extreme performance computing capabilities enabling user communities in collaboration with other High Performance Computing stakeholders to scale up existing parallel codes towards exascale and extreme scaling performance;
co-design
means a collective approach between technology suppliers and users engaged in a collaborative and iterative design process for developing new technologies, applications and systems;
conflict of interest
means a situation involving a financial actor or other person as referred to in Article 61 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046;
consortium of private partners
means an association of Union legal entities coming together for the purpose of acquiring jointly with the Joint Undertaking an industrial-grade supercomputer;
constituent entity
means an entity that constitutes a Private Member of the Joint Undertaking, pursuant to the statutes of each Private Member;
EuroHPC supercomputer
means any computing system which is fully owned by the Joint Undertaking or co-owned with other Participating States or a consortium of private partners and which is a classical supercomputer (high-end supercomputer, industrial-grade supercomputer, AI-optimised supercomputer or mid-range supercomputer), a hybrid classical-quantum computer, a quantum computer or a quantum simulator;
exascale
means a performance level capable of executing ten to the power of eighteen operations per second (or 1 Exaflop);
high-end supercomputer
means a world-class computing system developed with the most advanced technology available at a given point in time and achieving at least exascale levels of performance or beyond (i.e. post-exascale) for applications addressing problems of greater complexity;
hosting consortium
means a group of Participating States or a consortium of private partners that have agreed to contribute to the acquisition and operation of a EuroHPC supercomputer, including any organisations representing these Participating States;
hosting entity
means a legal entity which includes facilities to host and operate a EuroHPC supercomputer and which is established in a Participating State that is a Member State;
hyper-connected
means a communication capability of transferring data at 10 to the power of twelve bits per second (1 Terabit per second) or beyond;
industrial-grade supercomputer
means at least a mid-range supercomputer specifically designed with security, confidentiality and data integrity requirements for industrial users that are more demanding than for a scientific use;
mid-range supercomputer
means a world-class supercomputer with at most one order of magnitude lower performance level than a high-end supercomputer;
multiannual strategic programme
means a document laying out a strategy for all the activities of the Joint Undertaking;
national High Performance Computing Competence Centre
means a legal entity, or a consortium of legal entities, established in a Participating State, associated with a national supercomputing centre of that Participating State, providing users from industry, including SMEs, academia, and public administrations with access on demand to the supercomputers and to the latest High Performance Computing technologies, tools, applications and services, and offering expertise, skills, training, networking and outreach;
National Quantum Competence Centre
means a legal entity, or a consortium of legal entities, established in a Participating State, providing users from industry, including SMEs, academia and research-performing organisations, and public administrations with access on demand to quantum technologies, tools, applications and services, as well as to national or European quantum infrastructures, and offering expertise, skills, training, networking and outreach;
observer State
means a country eligible to participate in the actions of the Joint Undertaking funded by Horizon Europe or the Digital Europe Programme that is not a Participating State;
Participating State
means a country that is a member of the Joint Undertaking;
performance level
means the number of floating point operations per second (flops) that a supercomputer can execute;
Private Member
means any member of the Joint Undertaking other than the Union or Participating States;
quantum computer
means a computing device that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve certain particular tasks using therefore fewer computational resources than classical computers;
quantum simulator
means a highly controllable quantum device that allows to obtain insights into properties of complex quantum systems or to solve specific computational problems inaccessible to classical computers;
Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
means the document covering the duration of Horizon Europe that identifies the key priorities and the essential technologies and innovations required to achieve the objectives of the Joint Undertaking;
supercomputing
means computing at performance levels requiring the massive integration of individual computing elements, including quantum components, for solving problems which cannot be handled by standard computing systems;
work programme
means the document referred to in Article 2, point (25), of Regulation (EU) 2021/695 or, where relevant, the document which also functions as the work programme referred to in Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/694, or Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1153.

Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1173

Article 4Pillars of activity#

Defined terms · 28

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Article 4Pillars of activity#

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