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Brazil's experience in supercomputing and its impact on research and innovation served as a source of inspiration for the second session of the Call for Ideas, organized by the SPIDER project and RedCLARA. This initiative aims to stimulate the development of proposals, projects, prototypes, and collaborative ventures that leverage the BELLA project, fostering the collaborative generation of initiatives between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.

This session featured Carla Osthoff, coordinator of the National High-Performance Processing Center (CENAPAD) at Brazil’s National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC). Osthoff delivered a talk titled "The Brazilian Supercomputing System in the HPC and AI Landscape in Latin America and Europe," highlighting Brazil’s work in high-performance computing, its crucial support for the scientific community, and the initiative's impact on developing advanced technological solutions. She also discussed how this infrastructure is driving research and innovation, positioning Brazil as a key player in the digital transformation of Latin America and Europe.

During the event, Tania Altamirano, academic relations coordinator at RedCLARA, reinforced the call to participate in the Call for Ideas. "We are sharing experiences to serve as inspiration and help visualize the current landscape, understand what can be done and how. With large infrastructures, significant research is driven forward. We previously had the participation of mathematician Francisco Foster, who explained the ALeRCE astronomical broker and the opportunities for innovation and collaboration in the scientific field through the use of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and shared digital resources," she emphasized.

Carla Osthoff explained the role of the LNCC, which operates under Brazil’s Ministry of Science and Technology. According to Osthoff, the institution has two primary missions: to provide scientific computing to the Brazilian community and to offer high-performance computing services to the country's academic and research sectors. She also highlighted that the LNCC has a graduate program recognized by leading funding and evaluation agencies in this field.

Currently, the LNCC has nine centers distributed across universities in Brazil, with its headquarters in Petrópolis. Osthoff also emphasized the role of Santos Dumont, the most powerful supercomputer in Latin America for academic research, with a capacity of 5.1 petaflops. "With the new configuration of Santos Dumont, we expect to reach 20 petaflops, meaning we will have a machine five times more powerful than last year. Additionally, it will feature a more modern computing architecture, enabling cutting-edge research in various application areas," Osthoff explained.

The LNCC supports the scientific community and currently manages around 300 research projects with approximately 2,000 users. Osthoff also mentioned the Ambassador Project, an initiative that allows federal and state universities to develop up to five research projects on Santos Dumont. There is an ongoing evaluation to extend this initiative internationally to strengthen global collaboration in supercomputing.

Finally, the expert highlighted that the LNCC has maintained international collaborations for over 20 years, including partnerships with institutions in France, reinforcing its commitment to global research and technological development.

At the conclusion of Osthoff's talk, Altamirano emphasized that the concepts of academic collaboration, advanced research, technological education, and innovative solutions are fundamental to the LNCC’s work and can serve as inspiration for generating proposals within the SPIDER and RedCLARA Call for Ideas, aimed at enhancing the use of BELLA and strengthening the digital transformation of both regions.

The BELLA II project, launched in 2023, aims to consolidate the digital ecosystem of Latin America and the Caribbean, expanding connectivity to as many countries as possible, with priority given to Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Additionally, it seeks to increase the adoption and use of digital transformation technologies to develop solutions that address the region's most pressing challenges.

SPIDER, specifically designed to maximize BELLA’s impact on digital transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean, promotes international collaboration and the development of emerging technologies in strategic sectors. Through this Call for Ideas, SPIDER seeks to encourage the creation of innovative solutions that enhance connectivity and knowledge exchange in the region.

For more details about the Call for Ideas, interested parties can contact info@spidernetwork.org or colaboracion@redclara.net.

Visit the website: Call for Ideas] SPIDER launches a call for ideas to expand the use of BELLA - SPIDER