Serbia buying new supercomputer and planning to service the region

Next week, the Government of Serbia will sign a contract for the purchase of a new supercomputer for the State Data Center (DDC) in Kragujevac, after the first upgrade of the existing device in that center was already carried out this year. The state's new investments in this type of technology - which is expected to amount to EUR 35 million - come in a period of intense development of the domestic IT market, where the export of ICT (information and communication technology) sector services continues to grow, the startup and VC (venture capital - risk capital) industries are developing, and companies are reorienting themselves from traditional outsourcing to providing more advanced solutions and services.

According to earlier statements by officials, the Serbian government negotiated with the French government a loan for the purchase of a supercomputer of the latest generation of the BullSequana brand, which is produced by the French IT firm Atos. The news about the upcoming deal was announced by the leaving Prime Minister of Serbia, Milos Vucevic, during his visit to DDC in Kragujevac, but without confirming the previous announcements and without specifying the details of the announced transaction:

- Next week we need to sign a contract for another supercomputer. Nobody in this part of Europe has that. It's not our imagination, it's reality. Serbia will have a second supercomputer. Our office had a meeting with colleagues from Republika Srpska, we are close to offering them the services of the State Data Center and everyone else in the region. Serbia is always open for cooperation.

In December, the Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment said that in 2025, the country would allocate a total of EUR 55 million for the further expansion and application of the supercomputer located in the DDC in Kragujevac, as well as for the development of appropriate software in various sectors of society that will help Serbia have a more efficient public administration, better diagnostics in healthcare and improvements in other areas.

According to him, then, in the first part of 2025, the system with the first upgrade of the existing supercomputer will get seven times faster graphics processors, as well as additional data storage space (it will be expanded by 120 terabytes and will be connected by NDR network technology at a speed of 200 gigabytes per second). - For this phase, a contract worth five million euros has already been signed - said Jovanovic several months ago.

This month it was confirmed that DDC had received the second supercomputer in a row, and Jovanovic said on that occasion that "a new, state-of-the-art supercomputer, which will be used by faculties, institutes, science and technology parks, startups and, for the first time, small and medium-sized enterprises, will be put into operation soon".