A newly formed organisation – the International Association of Supercomputing Centres – held a session at this year’s SC22, bringing together heads of centres from across the world to discuss how closer collaboration could work for the benefit of all.
The International Association of Supercomputing Centres (IASC), formed in June 2022, is a worldwide consortium of public-facing advanced computing user facilities sharing knowledge and know-how on their operations, management, and strategy. In this Birds of a Feather session, results from survey workshops held this autumn were discussed with an expert panel, chaired by Laura Schulz of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, and the gathered participants.
Centre directors, managers, programme developers, technical topic leads, and anyone else interested were warmly welcomed to join the open conversation that took place over the course of the hour at SC22. Input from the session will be used to guide working group formation around central topics (e.g. NetZero, open-source software, quantum computing in HPC centres, cloud strategy).
The concept of IASC was started over a year ago, coming about from conversations among colleagues and friends working in supercomputing centres. Although the relationships between them had been beneficial in terms of talking over various technical issues, there was little formalisation in the way they were communicating. Eventually, it was suggested that the monthly informal chats that were occurring might be better done in a more structured manner to help each other move forwards in addressing common issues.
“Public facing supercomputing centres all have unique needs, some of them very unique to our regions and cultures,” said Laura Schulz. “But at the same time, we all face a common issue: we must get talented people into our centres, talented people doing top-level science. And to do this, we need to have the resources and the people, a functioning environment and ecosystem within our own walls to be able to facilitate this. So how can we help each get better and more optimised at this? This is really the spirit of the IASC.”
The session covered several topics that the IASC believe could be addressed better through improved collaboration. Energy efficiency is a huge issue that many working in data centres are now thinking about, especially with the recent energy crisis in Europe. It is important that every single bit of power is squeezed out of HPC systems and turned into science. How to use waste heat is also now a big topic of discussion, and the IASC hopes to provide a catalyst to promoting awareness and discovery for different solutions, certifications, and operational improvements in this area.
Dealing with the workforce in supercomputing centres is another shared issue that will benefit from the joined-up thinking of the IASC. Working out how to fill positions successfully, and what education and training programmes to provide, are just some of the questions that could be discussed more openly amongst centres. On top of this, cloud strategy, industrial engagement, open-source software maintenance, and general community engagement will all come under the umbrella of the newly formed association.
After Laura Schulz’s opening presentation, the audience also heard input from Judy Hill of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Kate Royse of the Hartree Centre, and Mark Stickells from the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. An open discussion then took place, with audience members offering their own insights and wisdom that will help to shape and create this new but much-needed organisation.