Sergio Mattarella
The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella attended the inauguration ceremony of the Leonardo supercomputer, which was held on November 24 at the Bologna Technopole. The supercomputer, ranked fourth on the Top500 list of the fastest computers in the world, represents an asset for the country and for Europe. The presence of the President of the Republic at the ceremony highlights the institutional importance of the infrastructure managed by Cineca for our country.
The President of the Republic was welcomed by Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region; Matteo Lepore, Mayor of Bologna; Anna Maria Bernini, Minister of University and Research; Francesco Ubertini, President of CINECA; Roberto Viola, Director General of Communications Networks, Content and Technologies, European Commission (CNECT).
After the Ceremony, the Head of State went to the Leonardo supercomputer site, where he received greetings from other personalities including Giovanni Molari, Rector of the University of Bologna, David Vannozzi, CEO of Cineca, Sanzio Bassini, Director of the HPC Department.
Following the ribbon cutting, the General Manager illustrated the history of the project and the Director of the HPC Department illustrated the technical part of Leonardo.
PROJECT PRESENTATION
In the room, the public was able to follow the presentation of the main phases of the project (video), from the construction of the data center to the installation of the supercomputer, its characteristics and its functioning by the Cineca staff: Mirko Cestari, Daniela Galetti, Massimo Mauri, Gabriella Scipione.
INSTITUTIONAL GREETINGS AND INTERVENTIONS
The event continued with the Inauguration Ceremony.
• Greetings from Matteo Lepore, Mayor of Bologna (video);
• Greetings from Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region (video);
• Testimony of Ilaria Siloi, Research Associate in Quantum Computing – University of Padua (video);
• Speech by Francesco Ubertini, President of CINECA (speech text and video);
• Speech by Anna Maria Bernini, Minister of University and Research (video).
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL PANELs
This was followed by the panels, moderated by the journalist Barbara Carfagna, during which the multiple possibilities of applying supercomputing for research and for society were also presented.
The first panel, of a scientific nature (video), was attended by Michele Parrinello, Dreyfus Prize for Chemical Sciences and Benjamin Franklin Medal for Chemistry, Luciano Floridi, professor of Philosophy and Information Ethics, Philippe Oliva, CEO of Atos Corporate, Anders Jensen, Executive Director of EuroHPC. The second round table, dedicated to applications in the industrial field (video), was attended by Roberto Viola general manager for Communications Networks, CNECT Contents, Sergio Dompé, president of Dompé Farmaceutici, Giuseppe di Franco, CEO of Atos Italia, Antonio Zoccoli, president of the Icsc Foundation (National Research Center in High Performance Computing) and National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
PRESS CONFERENCE AND AGREEMENT FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
On the sidelines of the inauguration, at the end of the press conference (video), an agreement was signed with Dompé Farmaceutici which provides for the use of computing power to accelerate the development of new drugs and provide an early response to pandemics. This agreement also paves the way for the creation by CINECA of a new Tier 1 Data Center in Naples in the context of the national strategies for the development of supercomputing within the project of the National Center for High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion was entrusted to the General Manager of Cineca David Vannozzi (video) who, after thanking the authorities and people of Cineca who collaborated on the project and organization of the event, recalled the steps that led to the installation of Leonardo in the data center at the Tecnopolo: from the first proposals to the realization of the project.
Watch the full video of the inauguration
Some shots of the event
