Article 4 Pillars of activity

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;

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;

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;

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

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;

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;

new algorithms and software technologies that offer substantial performance increases;

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;

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;

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

the upgrading of existing EuroHPC supercomputers with AI capabilities;

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;

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;

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

the operation of other AI-enabling supercomputing services;

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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;

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;

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;

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.