Britain’s decision to scrap an £800m supercomputer project has sparked outrage in the tech industry, with critics warning it will hinder the country’s ability to compete globally in science and technology. The project, which was awarded funding under the previous Conservative government, would have built a powerful “exascale” system capable of performing complex simulations and crunching vast amounts of data writes the telegraph.
However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has axed the plan as part of efforts to plug an alleged “black hole” in Britain’s finances. The move has been met with fierce criticism from industry insiders, who argue it will leave Britain lagging behind countries like Russia and China in terms of technological capabilities. Key figures involved in the controversy include Andrew Griffith, shadow technology secretary, and Sir Peter Mathieson, vice chancellor of Edinburgh University, which was set to host the supercomputer. The decision has also raised concerns about the future of other major spending projects in science and technology, including a £2.5bn investment in quantum computing and over £1bn in semiconductors.
Archer 2
The full ARCHER2 system is an HPE Cray EX supercomputing system with an estimated peak performance of 28 Pflop/s. The machine has 5,860 compute nodes, each with dual AMD EPYCTM 7742 64-core processors at 2.25GHz, giving 750,080 cores in total.
ARCHER2 is capable, on average, of over eleven times the science throughput of its predecessor, ARCHER. This estimate is based on benchmarks of five of the most heavily used research software packages on ARCHER. As with all new systems, the relative speedups over ARCHER vary by software and problem size. The research software applications used for the benchmarking evaluation were to improve science throughput by the following factors: 8.7x for CP2K, 9.5x for OpenSBLI, 11.3x for CASTEP, 12.9x for GROMACS, and 18.0x for the HadGEM3 climate model.
The UK’s Supercomputing Capacity: A Threat to Global Standing?
The United Kingdom has recently faced a significant setback in its supercomputing capacity, with the cancellation of an £800m project to build an “exascale” system. This decision has sparked intense backlash from the tech industry, with many experts warning that it threatens the UK’s standing as an international leader in science and technology.
According to industry analysts Top500, the UK has now drifted to number 12 behind China, France, and Saudi Arabia in terms of supercomputing capacity. The country currently has just two systems in the ranking of the 100 most powerful supercomputers in the world. Archer2, Britain’s most powerful system, is a staggering 70 times less powerful than the most advanced American machine, called Frontier, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The Importance of Supercomputing in Scientific Research
Classic supercomputers have proven vital for modern scientific research, which can often seed profitable innovations that fuel growth. They are essential tools for simulating complex phenomena, such as weather patterns, material properties, and molecular interactions. Without access to powerful computing resources, researchers may struggle to make breakthroughs in fields like medicine, climate modeling, and materials science.
The Rise of Tech Giants and the Need for Sovereign Computer Power
Tech giants are spending tens of billions of dollars on powerful graphics processors, which are used to develop AI algorithms. This has prompted countries like the UK to invest in their own sovereign computer power to remain competitive. However, the cancellation of the Edinburgh project raises concerns about the UK’s ability to keep pace with other nations.
The Government’s Defense and Potential U-Turn
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology defended the move to cancel the project, citing a lack of funds. However, critics argue that the plans were “fully-costed” and that the government is now trying to backpedal on its commitment to expanding Britain’s sovereign computer power.
The Future of AI Computing in the UK
Despite the setback, there are still hopes for salvaging something from the planned investment into compute. Talks have taken place with the industry to assuage concerns, and the Government has not ruled out investing in future AI computing projects when funds allow. A taskforce led by Matt Clifford, a former adviser to Rishi Sunak, is exploring ways to bolster the UK’s compute infrastructure to better suit its needs.
In conclusion, the cancellation of the £800m supercomputing project is a significant blow to the UK’s scientific research and technological advancement. The government must reconsider its priorities and find a way to invest in sovereign computer power to remain competitive in the global arena.
External Link: Click Here For More
