STRASBOURG: 2CRSi, a designer and manufacturer of energy-efficient computer servers, has been selected by the European Commission to contribute to designing and building a European sovereign High Performance Computing solution, a news release said.

2CRSi announced it is among the members of the consortium selected by the European Commission to design and manufacture sovereign 100%-European pilot systems based on RISC-V accelerators, as a first step towards the realisation of future operational European exascale systems.

In the last year, as Covid-19 has revealed and exacerbated many of Europe’s existing vulnerabilities, Europe has begun to recognise the need to defend its sovereignty. Digital sovereignty is one of the five priority stakes.

The European PILOT (Pilot using Independent Local & Open Technology) will be the first demonstration of two ALL European High-Performance Computing (HPC) and High-Performance Data Analytics (HPDA[1]) accelerators, designed, implemented, manufactured, and owned by Europe.

The project combines open-source software and open and proprietary hardware to deliver the first completely European full stack software, accelerator, and integrated ecosystem based on a RISC-V architecture coupled to any general-purpose processor (CPU).

To produce this full stack research prototype, the European PILOT will also leverage and extend the work already done in multiple European projects such as European Processor Initiative, MEEP, POP2 CoE, EuroEXA and ExaNeSt.

There are 20 public and private contributors in PILOT, each working on a specific part of the project. 2CRSi is awarded the position of hardware manufacturer: 2CRSi will provide server-based solutions around its OCtoPus platform for host systems and open compute accelerator solutions.

2CRSi will also work on the integration of the solution in the immersion tanks and provide the communication between the tanks of the system.

2CRSi being a part of the consortium is a clear recognition as a tier 1 European tech actor. It further demonstrates the merits of the Group’s strategy to design low energy consumption servers which are manufactured locally too. This commitment is a strong differentiating factor for 2CRSi.

2CRSi’s work in the consortium will be rewarded by a €2.4 million grant over the next 3 years.

“We are very proud to be the server manufacturer of a 100%-European solution. Digital sovereignty is critical for many security and economic issues: for instance, AI is estimated to contribute more than €13 trillion to the global economy by 2030; based on existing technologies, the share that Europe can capture remains limited. The PILOT project will enable Europe to be equipped with cutting-edge computing capabilities”, says Alain Wilmouth, Chairman and Co-founder of 2CRSi.

Founded in Strasbourg (France), 2CRSi group develops, produces and sells high-performance customised and environment-friendly servers. In the financial year 2019/2020, the Group achieved pro forma turnover of €141.1m.

The Group today has approximately 350 employees and markets its offer of innovative solutions (processing, storage and network) in more than 50 countries. 2CRSi has been listed since June 2018 on the regulated market of Euronext in Paris and is included in the European Rising Tech label. www.2crsi.com