May 14, 2021 — The Petascale Supercomputer-Bulgaria Consortium, with leading partner Sofia Tech Park and the Canadian high-tech company InfinityQ signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of testing, development and application of quantum technologies. The online ceremony was attended by the Minister of Economy of Canada Lucie Lecours, Aurelie Helouis, Executive Director of InfinityQ, The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sofia Tech Park Petar Statev, Deputy Chairman of the Sofia Tech Park Supervisory Board Kostadin Petkov, The Executive Director of Sofia Tech Park Todor Mladenov and Bulgaria’s representative in EuroHPC prof. Ivan Dimov.

The agreement stipulates that a quantum computing module based on InfinityQ technology to be installed to the Bulgarian petascale supercomputer Discoverer, which is positioned in Sofia Tech Park. The aim is to provide access to the Bulgarian and European scientists to the Quantum module in order to perform scientific calculations in areas such as molecular dynamics, physics, engineering problems and other.

Adding the quantum technology to Bulgarian supercomputer is the next step in the upgrade of its computing power and the development of the technology used, thus ensuring the modernization and high-tech level of the machine.

InfinityQ is a leading quantum computing technology company that is developing the world’s first CMOS-compatible quantum optimization chip architecture, the potential of which can provide 100,000 times faster computing power with low power consumption.

The technology is based on hardware and operating software and is designed to work as part of a broader classic computer system – whether in a micro, mini or supercomputer. InfinityQ’s mission is to solve urgent computing problems in the world with affordable quantum technology.

Minister Lucie Lecours expressed support for the partnership of the two companies, aimed at developing innovation, technology and human potential. Ms. Aurelie Helouis pointed out that the addition of quantum technology to the supercomputer will increase its computing power using modern and innovative technology.

Mr. Petar Statev commented that this is the first in a series of steps that Sofia Tech Park is taking to upgrade the technology used for the supercomputer, which will increase the competitiveness of the Bulgarian machine, which is currently in the top 500 worldwide.

Prof. Dimov said that the partnership is in the context of Bulgaria’s policy regarding the development of the country’s research potential and will support a number of scientific and industrial developments based on the use of high-performance calculations.

The Bulgarian petascale supercomputer “Discoverer” is part of the European network of high-performance machines EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. It is one of the 5 petascale supercomputers aimed at upgrading Europe’s computing power. The candidacy of the Bulgarian consortium “Petascale Supercomputer – Bulgaria” was approved under the procedure of EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, through which 8 European locations for construction of the supercomputers were selected.

The Bulgarian petascale machine is Atos ’BullSequana XH2000 configuration. The computing power will allow more than 4.4 petaflops or 4.4 million billion calculations per second to be performed, and connected to the EuroHPC network will reach a peak computing performance of about 6 petaflops.

The machine is currently delivered and installed in Sofia Tech Park where tests are being performed. The supercomputer is expected to be commissioned in July 2021.

The main goal of the supercomputer in Bulgaria is to support a number of research and innovation activities, to stimulate the industry based on the use of technologies for simulation, modeling and optimization. The capacity of the machine can be used in many application areas for the needs of a large number of public and private users, including small and medium enterprises at Bulgarian, regional and European level. The system will be optimized to work in many scientific fields, including bioinformatics, pharmacy, molecular dynamics and mechanics, quantum chemistry and biochemistry, artificial intelligence, personalized medicine, bioengineering, weather forecasting, climate change and more.

The supercomputer is financed from the budget of Bulgaria and EuroHPC JU, with a total investment of 11.5 million euros.

The capacity of the computer system in Bulgaria is complemented by 4 more petascale supercomputers, part of the EuroHPC network, which are positioned in Luxembourg, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, as well as 3 pre-exascale supercomputers in Finland, Italy and Spain.

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Source: Sofia Tech Park