DK/STA
24. 10. 2024, 17.11
Updated: 24 October 2024, 18.11
Today, the Government became aware of the preparation of the application for the European Commission tender for the acquisition of a high-performance computer for artificial intelligence and for the establishment of an artificial intelligence factory. She established a working group to help prepare the application.
As the State Secretary at the Ministry of Digital Transformation said in a statement to the media after the government meeting Aida Kamišalić Latifićthe working group consists of members of three ministries and external experts in the field of supercomputing and artificial intelligence.
At the same time, she emphasized that the preparation of the documentation for applying for the tender for the supercomputer has been going on for a long time. Funds are also provided in the budget, and in parallel with this, the project of building a data center in Maribor, where this computer will be located, has been going on for a year.
“With the European Commission calling for an application, we will get an even more powerful supercomputer than the one that currently exists, i.e. the Vega supercomputer, which is why this application is extremely important for Slovenia. The project will be extremely important for the economy, so that it can competitively,” she said.
The first application deadline is November 4, after which the application deadlines will follow each other for three months. The next deadline is February 1, 2025, the Ministry of Digital Transformation explained in a statement after the government meeting. According to their explanations, Slovenia agreed to participate in an international consortium within the first application deadline, and due to this international dimension and the complementarity of systems, the possibility of choosing an independent application, which is planned for the second deadline in February next year, should be increased.
It will serve different purposes
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič added that the data center is being planned at the headquarters of the company Dravske elektrarne Maribor (DEM) next to the Mariborski Otok hydroelectric plant. “It is a separate project, but it will be combined in the final form, it is about the construction of a completely new data center, and it is financed from the funds for recovery and resilience,” he explained.
S.R.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič said that the data center is being planned at the headquarters of Dravske elektrarne Maribor (DEM) next to the Mariborski Otok hydroelectric plant.
According to him, this project has also been going on for a long time. It is managed by Arnes, and construction work is scheduled to start early next year. It must be completed by the middle of 2026, he summarized. “In this center, space is provided for the planned supercomputer,” he concluded.
100 million euros
The existing supercomputer was launched in 2021 in the premises of the Institute of Information Sciences. The new one, which stood near the DEM administrative building, will serve different purposes. According to the Prime Minister Robert Golob from the middle of the year, 50 million euros in EU grants have already been agreed for the supercomputer, and the state is expected to contribute the same amount again.
The state will undertake to pay the contribution through the issuance of a letter of commitment to pay the financial contribution, if Slovenia is successful in the tender, the Ministry of Digital Transformation also wrote.
Source: svet24.si
