New Union State program on SKIF supercomputers possible in 2014

A new Union State program on supercomputers under the tentative name SKIF Nedra may be launched in 2014, BelTA learned from Sergei Abramov, Director of the Program Systems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the session of the Commission for Economic Policy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia on 21 October.

Sergei Abramov said: “The SKIF Nedra program has been written. The concept of the program has been approved by the Union State Council of Ministers. The text of the program is fully ready. The agreement process is nearly over… I hope that the program may be and should be launched in 2014. The Belarusian side has the same view”. He explained that the program envisages the development of software and hardware solutions for industries related to mineral deposits.

Speaking about the SKIF Grid program that has been carried out in the past, Sergei Abramov said that several supercomputers in Russia and Belarus had been developed. “It is quite a large number of hardware devices, a huge software complex,” said the scientists. The developers tried to apply all the results not only in science and education but in real economy, too, in other words for concrete enterprises of the two countries. Moreover, by using additional funds outside the program’s framework the scientists created several other supercomputers. All in all, 45 results of intellectual efforts were registered.

“It is important to mention immaterial results. The program involved about 100-150 people from Belarus and 300-350 people from Russia,” said Sergei Abramov. In his words, they managed to create a good scientific team. Sergei Abramov underlined that the supercomputer project had worked virtually as a business incubator: “The intellectual advance has been used to develop various companies”. A considerable increase in Belarus and Russia’s share in the world’s computing power was registered during the course of the SKIF supercomputer program. The share dropped in between the programs. “The power was not generated by Union State money only. It was a catalyst. Once the SKIF scientists got the ball rolling, everyone else tried to keep up,” said Sergei Abramov. He added that the interval between the programs, which is virtually three years long now, results in material losses and the loss of team spirit. Nevertheless, the scientist’s view is positive and he sees great prospects for continuing the supercomputer programs.

In his words, the development of proprietary software was one of the most precious elements of the programs. He pointed out that, for instance, in Russia some companies specializing in the extraction of natural resources use Western software, which is not so good from the point of view of national security. “Russian and Belarusian mathematics is as good as Western one,” noted Sergei Abramov.

Deputy Director General of the United Informatics Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Viktor Alyushkevich agreed with his colleague. He said that the new program can be launched next year. He added that the supercomputer project had allowed using certain results at Minsk Motor Plant and Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. There are plans to deploy a relevant grid segment for the Belarusian tire industry soon, said the scientist.