The Federal Government will provide $70 million to the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) High Performance Computing facility to replace its supercomputer.
Acting Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Michaelia Cash said the NCI was a critical part of Australia’s research infrastructure and the $70 million investment would ensure it continued into the future.
“From the Bureau of Meteorology to NASA, the NCI supports more than 4000 researchers involved in nearly 500 projects, spanning 35 Australian universities, science agencies and medical research institutes as well as researchers overseas,” Ms Cash said.
“Our investment is key to strengthening Australia’s world-leading research.
Minister for Education Simon Birmingham said replacing the NCI’s supercomputer was identified as a vital and urgent recommendation in the National Research Infrastructure Roadmap developed under the leadership of the Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel AO.
“Replacing the NCI’s supercomputer headquartered at the Australian National University ensures the facility can continue its critical support for researchers across many disciplines,” he said.
The new supercomputer is scheduled to come online before the current capabilities are decommissioned at the end of 2018.
