EuroCC Italy is the National Competence Centre (NCC), a member of the EuroHPC network (which includes thirty-three European competence centres, one for each country). Its mission is to channel knowledge from the research domain into training and technology-transfer actions designed to meet the concrete needs of the industrial ecosystem. Through the Competence Centre, it is possible to activate training programmes and twinning initiatives among centres to share experiences, best practices, success stories, and international collaborations aimed at addressing the specific needs of companies and regional ecosystems.
EuroCC Italy pursues three main objectives:
- Promote, build, and strengthen collaboration among companies, research institutes, and HPC computing centres;
- Support public administrations, the industrial system, and in particular SMEs in developing innovation projects;
- Raise awareness of the advantages and opportunities offered by high-performance computing, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence for the productive sector.
The Italian HPC Competence Centre involves the following partners: BI-REX, Cineca, Fondazione IFAB.
Services Offered
To fulfil its mission of supporting innovation within the national industrial landscape—particularly the Italian SME ecosystem—EuroCC positions itself as an open service platform that facilitates access to training (training), experimentation (piloting & co-design), and knowledge-sharing (networking) opportunities related to HPC, HPDA, and AI technologies. Specifically, it offers:
- certified training materials and programmes, both online and on-site;
- job opportunities for young talents, researchers, and professionals;
- expertise and innovation support through HPC, HPDA, and AI technologies and methodologies;
- Proof of Concept analyses to assess the impact of technology on business and operations;
- computational resources;
- technology-transfer actions between academia and the industrial sector.
Training
The training offer for companies developed by EuroCC Italy (and the European NCCs) is structured across three levels:
- “Curiosity and Interest” — introductory training aimed at raising awareness of HPC technologies within business processes;
- “High-Performance Innovation” — skill-transfer activities enabling the application of specific HPC technologies to business processes and products;
- “Working in the Field” — a six-month internship programme in the field of HPC dedicated to young people.
Piloting & Co-Design
Beyond training, EuroCC Italy also supports SMEs in carrying out Proof of Concept analyses with the dual objective of:
1. implementing innovative systems based on HPC, HPDA, and AI technologies within business environments and production centres, and
2. assessing their positive impact.
Networking
CASTIEL, a dedicated coordination hub, supports all European NCCs and their innovation projects by facilitating interaction, cooperation, and synergies among the national competence centres. EuroCC Italy and all the companies it collaborates with are therefore part of a broad network that is essential for the development and innovation of both the Italian and European industrial ecosystem.
Funding
EuroCC 3 has received funding from the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under Grant Agreement No. 101306701. The JU receives support from the European Union‘s Digital Europe Programme and Germany, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, and Kosovo.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Neither the European Union nor the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking can be held responsible for them.
