High Performance, Edge And Cloud computing

Project Information

HiPEAC

Grant agreement ID: 101069836

DOI

10.3030/101069836

EC signature date 24 May 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 31 July 2026

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 2 125 000,00

EU contribution

€ 2 000 000,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT GENT
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HiPEAC (High Performance, Edge And Cloud computing)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

HiPEAC is a coordination and support action that aims to strengthen Europe's dynamic computing ecosystem, guiding research and innovation in key digital and emerging technologies. It seeks to bolster European leadership in the global data economy and speed up the digital and green transitions. This is done by uniting European partnerships and stakeholders to map out the future of computing technologies, infrastructures, and service platforms.
HiPEAC's main objectives are: (i) networking to build an ecosystem, (ii) roadmapping to advance research, (iii) creating value networks to stimulate innovation, (iv) partnering to enhance collaboration, (v) developing policies, and (vi) ensuring coherent dissemination.
The partners are Ghent University (coordinator, Belgium), BSC (Spain), CEA (France), Cloudferro (Poland), Eclipse (Germany), IDC (Italy), INRIA (France), Inside (the Netherlands), RWTH (Germany), SINTEF (Norway) and Thales (France). The project runs for 30 months.
Any excellent European researcher from academia or industry can become a HiPEAC member. HiPEAC currently has 769 members. Of these, 69 have joined since the beginning of HiPEAC7, among them 20 from industry. There are also 1585 affiliate members, who are linked to HiPEAC members, and 138 associate members. Together, they form the HiPEAC network of over 2,500 computing specialists, the largest such ecosystem in Europe.
The HiPEAC objectives are translated into a joint programme of activities consisting of two work packages: roadmapping and ecosystem building. These two work packages are supported by appropriate communication and management tasks.
The HiPEAC project is coordinated by Ghent University and executed by the 11 partners. They are supported by four staff members who are responsible for the execution of all the tasks of the project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

TThe goal of the Roadmapping work package is to produce the yearly HiPEAC Vision. This vision is created by and for its members, in collaboration with European partnerships and policymakers to ensure coordinated, complementary and mutually reinforcing visions. The HiPEAC Vision 2024 & 2025 have been widely disseminated in the ecosystem.
The core themes of the HiPEAC Vision centre around the dynamic and competitive landscape of technological progress, with a specific focus on the emerging ‘next computing paradigm’. This shift recognizes the rapid evolution in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and the strategic significance that these domains will take in global geopolitics. The document also highlights the intensified competition between leading global powers in technology and AI, emphasizing the implications for Europe. It underscores the need for Europe to seize the opportunities presented by these developments while mitigating risks, such as dependencies on external platforms and resources.
The goal of the Ecosystem Building work package is to support and grow the ecosystem by creating opportunities to meet, to network, to collaborate, to share, to train, and to align.
HiPEAC has created 4 value networks by connecting partnerships and members. The partnership network is now operating under the ‘computing continuum’ umbrella. The other networks focus on CPS and Sustainability. These networks meet quarterly to discuss activities and research agendas and are coordinated by HiPEAC.
The week-long ACACES 2023 & 2024 summer schools each attracted around 200 attendees for 12 courses, invited talks and networking opportunities. It is the largest European computing systems summer school, and it is the main training event of the ecosystem.
The HiPEAC conference is the flagship networking event of the HiPEAC ecosystem, featuring around 40 community-based high-quality workshops and tutorials. HiPEAC 2023 in Toulouse welcomed 570 attendees,HiPEAC 2024 in Munich attracted 690 attendees and HiPEAC 2025 welcomed 785 people making it the second-biggest European computing systems conference.
The network’s recruitment services and jobs website continue to thrive. The jobs website was further developed and professionalized into an effective marketplace for jobseekers and employers (see www.hipeac.net/jobs). Institutions and companies can post European-based job openings on the portal. These are subsequently promoted globally. This policy keeps talent in Europe, while still attracting talent from outside Europe.
Being an ecosystem, HiPEAC needs to be strong in communication and dissemination. A dedicated communication officer assures a high quality of the HiPEAC communications and dissemination and reaches out to a wide and diverse audience inside and outside of the HiPEAC community. Active communication channels include social media (X, LinkedIn, YouTube), email bulletins, the HIPEAC website and magazine, presence at international events, webinars, …

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The creation of the computing continuum value network was not anticipated in the project proposal, but arose spontaneously during the first meeting of the network of partnerships. This initiative will allow HiPEAC to stimulate interactions and coordination between the (sometimes overlapping) partnerships. It has already facilitated the sharing of resources, expertise, and best practices. The HiPEAC project would like to create additional value networks in open source and sustainability. By doing so, HiPEAC wants to consolidate its position as a leader in the field of computing systems and to further grow and steer the ecosystem.