The high-performance machine now offers a new class of specialised services for the business and scientific community in Bulgaria and Europe

The upgrade of the Bulgarian Supercomputer Discoverer has been successfully completed and the machine is now equipped with new systems that enable additional specialized services in the field of artificial intelligence to be provided to the business, scientific community and public sector in the European Union. This was announced during a press conference marking the completion of the upgrade of Discoverer, which is part of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU). The event was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev, Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev, the Chairman of the Governing Board of EuroHPC JU Rafal Duczmal, the CEO of EuroHPC JU Anders Dam Jensen, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sofia Tech Park Petar Statev, representatives of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and higher education institutions, Bulgarian and international high-tech companies and organizations, local authorities. The European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva made a video address on the occasion of the successful completion of the project.

The upgrade of Discoverer, positioned at Sofia Tech Park, is under a procedure of EuroHPC JU, as it is the first supercomputer of the EU network to be upgraded since its creation in 2021. The upgrade of the high-performance machine is in the context of the mission of EuroHPC JU Europe to deploy a world-leading supercomputing infrastructure. With the new capabilities, Discoverer+ will be a strategic asset for the development of science and will support the development of applications of industrial and societal importance for Europe.

The project is the result of the successful cooperation between the Consortium “Petascale Supercomputer Bulgaria” and EuroHPC JU, in partnership with the technology companies A1 Bulgaria, Eviden, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and NVIDIA.

Discоverer+ offers a new class of functionalities, GPUs and memory, and its performance has been significantly increased. The machine is now specialized for training neural networks, working with large language models, artificial intelligence, creating digital twins, machine learning and other computationally intensive tasks. To date, Discoverer has been involved in over 80 projects and actively supports the scientific and business community in Bulgaria and Europe. The upgrade of the machine strengthens our country’s role as a reliable partner in building a competitive and innovative European infrastructure for high-performance computing.

The following components have been added to the current Discoverer systems:
– GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) partition to improve the performance of the supercomputer.
– Two new Long Term Storage and Flash Storage systems for long-term data storage and compute-intensive tasks. Discoverer currently has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) partition that is one of the largest in Europe.
– Discoverer’s UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) components have been improved by complementing existing uninterruptible power supply systems.
“Bulgaria and Europe have one more tool that provides new opportunities for applied research and lays the foundations for a knowledge industry in all sectors,” said Petar Statev, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sofia Tech Park and CEO of the Consortium Petascale Supercomputer Bulgaria.

“The Bulgarian supercomputer Discoverer is an example of the benefits of European cooperation in research and innovation. Supercomputers are essential for most scientific fields and industries that make Europe competitive with the strongest economies. Discoverer has been a powerful tool for researchers since its launch, but today we are taking it to the next level,” stated Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva.

“The existence of such computing power and capacity – both technical and human – in the field of artificial intelligence is a key factor that will determine the competitiveness of our economy in the coming years. We are investing in chips, memory, GPUs, cooling – but above all we are investing in people – in bright minds, in new opportunities for scientists and for businesses. Sofia Tech Park – with what is happening now and what is coming next year – the artificial intelligence factory, will enter a new reality. The best is yet to come,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev.

“I express my gratitude to all institutions – to Sofia Tech Park, to all partners, to the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, as well as to all those who actively use the supercomputer – universities and scientific organizations. The supercomputer not only puts us on the map of European high-performance infrastructure, but also positions us as a significant player in the development of artificial intelligence. I am convinced that Bulgarian scientific organisations and universities will improve their results in research thanks to this infrastructure,” pointed out the Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev.

“The Discoverer+ upgrade represents an advancement for both the European and Bulgarian HPC and AI communities. Bulgaria has consistently demonstrated its commitment as a European partner in the EuroHPC JU, beginning with its Council Presidency in 2018, followed by the Discoverer project, and most recently, through substantial investments in its own AI Factory”, stated the Chairman of the Governing Board of EuroHPC JU Rafal Duczmal.

“The upgrade of Discoverer to Discoverer+ is another important milestone in our goal to position the European Union as a leader in the supercomputing ecosystem and we look forward to seeing ambitious and successful projects emerge from this infrastructure”, said the CEO of EuroHPC JU Anders Dam Jensen.

Discoverer+ will be part of the Bulgarian artificial intelligence factory BRAIN++, a project that was approved in March by EuroHPC JU. The factory will be part of an EU network of 13 artificial intelligence centres. It will include an advanced Discoverer++ supercomputer specialised for AI and robotics work and a centre that will offer training and consultancy to government and private organisations and companies.

More about the Discoverer Petascale Supercomputer

The Bulgarian Petascale Supercomputer Discoverer has a computing power of 4.5 petaflops and a peak performance of 6 petaflops. The machine is in the TOP 500 world ranking for high-performance machines. Discoverer is managed by the Consortium “Petascale Supercomputer Bulgaria” with participants Sofia Tech Park JSC, Association “National Center for Computer Applications” and Strategic Center for Artificial Intelligence. The organization brings together the knowledge and over 15 years of experience of Bulgarian scientists and engineers.

More information about Discoverer: https://discoverer.bg

More information about EuroHPC: https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/index_en