A grant agreement on a project worth nearly 200 million kuna (€27 million) co-financed by EU funds for the purchase of a supercomputer which will be used for scientific research and data collection was signed at the Science and Education Ministry on Wednesday.

The supercomputer is intended to be 10-20 times more powerful than any existing computing machines in Croatia, and will be distributed across four cities – Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, and Split. It will be used for science research and collection of data essential for the development of modern technologies, in the areas of artificial intelligence and big data.

“Investing in science is the best possible investment, especially taking into account that jobs of the future will change, with new technology allowing new professions and jobs to appear,” Science Minister, Blazenka Divjak, said.

The project will enable science and higher education institutions in Croatia to focus on their development, research projects, and excellence, said Spomenka Djuric, senior official in the EU Funds Ministry.

The main part of the project will be carried out by the University of Zagreb’s Computing Centre (Srce), and is expected to build a computer and data cloud over the next three years, to act as a main component of the national research and innovation infrastructure.

(€1 = 7.39 kuna)

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