January 25, 2013
TORONTO, Ontario, Jan. 25 – For many people, supercomputers are the stuff of doomsday science fiction movies and entertaining game show challenges and bear names like Hal 9000 and Watson.
But around the world, powerful High Performance Computing (HPC) units are being used to help businesses succeed by giving companies the ability to process massive sets of data to find information, run simulations and solve very large and complex problems.
Now, a consortium that includes the Federal and Provincial Governments, IBM and seven universities is making the HPC technology available to small and medium-sized businesses in Southern Ontario as part of an unprecedented research opportunity.
Access to HPC technology has typically been outside the reach of small-to-medium-sized businesses in Ontario due to limited infrastructure and prohibitive costs. But in April, 2012, a $210 million supercomputing R&D program was announced providing university researchers and private sector companies access to modern high performance computing capabilities. The goal is to ensure Ontario companies are able to compete on a global scale by helping them produce game-changing business solutions.
Ontario Centres of Excellence is hosting a series of information sessions across Southern Ontario for companies to learn about the competitive benefits High Performance Computing brings and how they can gain access to the machines.
The first of these events takes place in London next Tuesday.
These OCE workshops will introduce companies to the benefits of using HPC in their operations and explain how they can apply to gain access. Attendees will also hear from companies who have experience in using HPC.
WHERE: Delta London Armouries Hotel, 325 Dundas Street, London Armouries Ballroom
WHEN: 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013
About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc.
Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario's global competitiveness. In doing this, OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario's industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. A champion of leading-edge technologies, best practices and research, Ontario Centres of Excellence invests in sectors such as advanced health, digital media and information communications, advanced manufacturing and materials, and cleantech including energy, environment and water. OCE through its Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR), an initiative supported by the federal government, also acts as a catalyst which allows innovative businesses to grow and achieve sustainable commercial success and global competitiveness. Ontario Centres of Excellence is a key partner in delivering Ontario's Innovation Agenda as a member of the province's Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE). Funded by the Government of Ontario, the ONE is Ontario's innovation system. The ONE is made up of regional and sector focused organizations designed to help Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their companies, and create jobs.
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Source: Ontario Centres of Excellence
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