MesoNET, a supercomputing network to which the ICI belongs, is selected in the EquipEx+ call for expressions of interest
on January 19, 2021
The French government invests in supporting scientific equipment that meets the highest international standards in terms of performance. Through the EquipEx+, it has just awarded this support to various projects whose main vocation is scientific research and which promote French leadership. Among these, MesoNET, which will meet the needs of academic and industrial researchers with the development of structural digital equipment, with the view to establishing in the long-term a distributed infrastructure for the coordination of HPC-AI in France.
This project is coordinated by GENCI and supported by its partners (French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, CNRS, CEA, CPU, INRIA), and includes at least one supercomputer per region which acts as a regional liaison.
MesoNET will, among other developments, allow for: the implementation of innovative and cutting-edge equipment accessible for all, (such as infrastructure for quantum computing for example); the acquisition of a shared HPC / AI convergent machine, primarily intended for training purposes; the creation of a data repository; the implementation of reinforced and shared user support; and participation in economic competitiveness, by extending the SiMSEO programme to all regions and fields of innovation.
The Centrale Nantes supercomputing facility, administered by the ICI, will host part of the training machine (spread over 6 sites in France), thus opening up access to students for initial and Executive Education modules related to HPC and AI.
The High Performance Computing Institute is both a resource centre and a research and skills center. It hosts the supercomputer as part of the Pays de la Loire Region's Connect Talent project, one of the most powerful regional centers in France.
Luisa Rocha, Head of the High-Performance Computing Institute:
Participating in MesoNET means contributing to producing and training tomorrow's talent in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, and giving them access to innovative platforms, with high-quality scientific support. Having such digital skills is a major issue of sovereignty and technological independence for a nation state.
