The newly founded project to create the European network SESAME Net -Supercomputing Expertise for Small And Medium Enterprises has been launched. SESAME Net will boost the usage of high performance computing technology by small and medium-sized enterprises.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) it is important to keep up to date with new technological developments in order to be able to compete within the global market. Technologies such as high performance computing (HPC) and the availability of HPC resources are becoming indispensable for better adaptation to market demands particularly in terms of innovation and fast renewal of product and service offerings. Unfortunately it is often difficult for SMEs to get access to essential HPC know-how and resources.

SESAME Net is funded through the European Commission’s program for research and innovation Horizon 2020 and has been awarded financial support for a total sum of two million euro.

The founder members, consisting of various European HPC centers and institutions will initially exchange experience and best-practices on supporting and collaborating with SMEs. Building upon this experience, the network will work on strategies for improving the services offered to SMEs and raising awareness of the benefits and opportunities of HPC technologies.

The aim is to build a pan-European network involving HPC service providers and SMEs including SMEs from countries without HPC centers.

The network will facilitate the exchange of knowledge as well as the provision of technical support and HPC infrastructure. The funding partners intend to organize regional workshops with SMEs and offer a wide range of best practice and support material.

The initial SESAME network consists of 15 organisations, including companies, public research institutes and universities from 13 European countries, from Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom. Leadership and coordination is taken by HPC Wales with support from Bangor University (UK).

The SESAME Net kick-off meeting was held in July 2015 in Brussels. It offered an excellent opportunity for the partners to get to know each other and to discuss planned activities as well as first steps in the six different work packages.

In October first achievements were presented at a second meeting in Lisbon. And the project had the unique opportunity of presenting at the Commission’s Open Science booth in the EC Village at ICT2015.

Further facts and figures about the network are available at Twitter, LinkedIn and the SESAME Net website.

A Bulgarian partner in the SESAME Net project is the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IICT-BAS), http://www.iict.bas.bg/.
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