This event has now taken place. Replays are available on this page.
This event has now taken place – a replay is available below.
The EU data economy as a whole will be worth over €550 billion by 2025, representing 4 % of the overall EU GDP. The European Commission has identified High Performance Computing (HPC) as a strategic investment priority that will underpin its entire digital strategy, from big data analytics and artificial intelligence to cloud technologies and cybersecurity.
As a result, the EU has decided to significantly increase its investments in HPC in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027). It is expected that over €8 billion will be invested over the seven year time frame, thus strengthening HPC innovation capabilities and building supercomputing capacity in the bloc. At the same time, it is an opportunity to develop a federation of supercomputing services across the EU’s Common European Data Spaces and federated cloud infrastructures, which are a key pillar of the Commission’s European Data Strategy.
HPC is already playing a key role in Europe’s efforts to quell the pandemic, for example being deployed to find treatments for COVID-19. HPC will play an even more important role in the economic recovery, as data and connectivity are at the forefront of the EU’s digital sovereignty agenda, encompassing industrial, technological and scientific challenges.
In this context, Forum Europe and HPE are organising a high-level roundtable discussing the role of HPC in Europe’s economic growth. The event will focus on the EU data economy and data sovereignty objectives. It is also an opportunity to assess concrete use cases and to analyse future trends. The discussion will bring together HPC Competence Centre representatives and allow policymakers to exchange views with stakeholders and to obtain evidence-based insights from industry and researchers on the most important elements to be considered when designing and developing Europe’s HPC ecosystem.
Philippe Notton is the CEO and founder of SiPearl, the French company that is designing the high-performance, low-power microprocessor for the European exascale supercomputer.
His original vision of SiPearl came in 2015 while he was leading a division of 2400 engineers at STMicroelectronics. In 2017, he joined Atos to set up the European Processor Initiative (EPI) consortium, which aimed to foster the return of high-performance microprocessor design to Europe. In June 2019, he launched SiPearl as a spin-off of the EPI with the support of the European Union. He assembled a team of experts and managers from Atos, STMicroelectronics, Marvell, Intel, Nokia and MediaTek and now employs 40 engineers in Maisons-Laffitte (France), Duisburg (Germany) and Barcelona. SiPearl’s first generation microprocessor, named Rhea, will be launched in 2022.
As a senior executive, Philippe Notton has built an outstanding track-record in the multimedia, semiconductor and security fields. Passionate about high technology and fast-moving environments, he has worked in France, the UK and the US for market-leading groups (Thomson, Canal+, LSI Logic, STMicroelectronics, Atos), as well as a successful startup (MStar Semiconductor, sold to MediaTek in 2012 for US$4B).
Philippe Notton is a Supélec engineer (1993) and has an Executive MBA from ESSEC & Mannheim (2008).
Founder and CEO
SiPearl
Executive Director
EuropHPC JU
As Managing Director for the Northern Western Europe region (France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania, Luxembourg , Netherland, Norway and Sweden) Gilles is responsible for developing and driving growth potential in the region and to extend HPE’s leadership position in these markets.
Before leading the Northern Western Europe organization, Gilles Thiebaut had been the Managing Director of France for 3 years.
Prior tenures include Vice President of ESSN (Servers, Storage and Network division) for Global Western Europe area in 2007 and VicePrésident of Indirect Sales in Europe, Middle Est and Africa, which represent over 70% of the revenue generated in the region.
At the outset of his career, Gilles Thiebaut worked at Xerox as part of the sales organization. Since then he has built extensive leadership and operational knowledge at country and regional levels, while delivering impressive results in terms of revenue growth & organisational transformation.
Gilles sits on the Executive Committee of the AmCham EU and is a regular keynote speaker to events on digital transformation & the future of IT.
He holds a Master in Business Administration from the Solvay Business School and from the Insead. Gilles is the happy father of 4 and enjoys playing tennis, jogging and cooking for his family & friends.
SVP and Managing Director
North-Western Europe
HPE
DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission, Head of Unit of the newly created High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology unit
Dr. Gustav Kalbe is German, born in Belgium. From 1986 to 1990 he studied Applied Physics at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. In 1991 he studied Applied Optics at the Imperial College of Science in London. In 1995 he completed his studies and earned a PhD in Physics, Molecular Spectroscopy, at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
He started his professional career as a project manager in photonic networks at the incumbent telecom operator in Belgium. He was R&D manager when he left the company.
In 1998 he joined the Directorate General Information Society & Media of the European Commission where he started working as Project Officer managing research projects of the European Framework Programs for Research. Over the years he had several assignments in quantum technologies, photonics, and cybersecurity.
In 2014 Gustav Kalbe became Head of Unit for Administration & Finance in the European Commission, in Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
In 2016 he was appointed Head of Unit of the newly created High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology unit in Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology.
In 2018 he became responsible for the establishment and operation of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. He occupied the post of Interim Executive Director of the Joint Undertaking until its autonomy by the end of 2020.
He’s also Deputy to the Director of DG Connect C “Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure” since 1st January 2021.
Deputy Director of Directorate C & Head of Unit, High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology
DG CNECT, European Commission
Utz-Uwe Haus, Head of the HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab (ERL), studied mathematics and computer science at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin). After obtaining a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Magdeburg (Germany) he worked on nonstandard applications of mathematical optimization in chemical engineering, material science, and systems biology. He led a junior research group at the Magdeburg Center for Systems Biology. After five years as senior researcher at the Department of Mathematics at ETH Zürich, he co-founded CERL, the CRAY EMEA Research Lab in 2015. His research interests focus on parallel programming and data aware scheduling problems, data analytics in the context of semantic databases, and novel compute architectures, and their relation to Mathematical Optimization and Operations Research. He is strongly involved in the European research collaborations and strategy through Horizon 2020 and EuroHPC projects, as well as ETP4HPC.
Head of HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab
HPE
Koski has previously worked in managerial positions at Nokia and in managerial and specialist roles at CSC. He has also worked at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.
Key concurrent positions of trust: Coordinator in the EuroHPC LUMI -consortium and Deputy member of the Board in Technology Industries of Finland.
Managing Director
CSC - The Finnish IT Center for Science
Director of the HLRS
HPC Centre Stuttgart
Director, Corporate Affairs, EMEA
HPE
10:00 – 10:05
Welcome Remarks
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Irena Bednarich
EMEA Director, Corporate Affairs, HPE
10:05 – 10:15
Keynote Speech
As Managing Director for the Northern Western Europe region (France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania, Luxembourg , Netherland, Norway and Sweden) Gilles is responsible for developing and driving growth potential in the region and to extend HPE’s leadership position in these markets.
Before leading the Northern Western Europe organization, Gilles Thiebaut had been the Managing Director of France for 3 years.
Prior tenures include Vice President of ESSN (Servers, Storage and Network division) for Global Western Europe area in 2007 and VicePrésident of Indirect Sales in Europe, Middle Est and Africa, which represent over 70% of the revenue generated in the region.
At the outset of his career, Gilles Thiebaut worked at Xerox as part of the sales organization. Since then he has built extensive leadership and operational knowledge at country and regional levels, while delivering impressive results in terms of revenue growth & organisational transformation.
Gilles sits on the Executive Committee of the AmCham EU and is a regular keynote speaker to events on digital transformation & the future of IT.
He holds a Master in Business Administration from the Solvay Business School and from the Insead. Gilles is the happy father of 4 and enjoys playing tennis, jogging and cooking for his family & friends.
Gilles Thiebaut
SVP and Managing Director, Northern Western Europe, HPE
10:15 – 10:25
Keynote Speech
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Gustav Kalbe
Deputy Director of Directorate C & Head of Unit, High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology, DG CNECT, European Commission
10:25 – 10:35
Keynote Speech
As Managing Director for the Northern Western Europe region (France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania, Luxembourg , Netherland, Norway and Sweden) Gilles is responsible for developing and driving growth potential in the region and to extend HPE’s leadership position in these markets.
Before leading the Northern Western Europe organization, Gilles Thiebaut had been the Managing Director of France for 3 years.
Prior tenures include Vice President of ESSN (Servers, Storage and Network division) for Global Western Europe area in 2007 and VicePrésident of Indirect Sales in Europe, Middle Est and Africa, which represent over 70% of the revenue generated in the region.
At the outset of his career, Gilles Thiebaut worked at Xerox as part of the sales organization. Since then he has built extensive leadership and operational knowledge at country and regional levels, while delivering impressive results in terms of revenue growth & organisational transformation.
Gilles sits on the Executive Committee of the AmCham EU and is a regular keynote speaker to events on digital transformation & the future of IT.
He holds a Master in Business Administration from the Solvay Business School and from the Insead. Gilles is the happy father of 4 and enjoys playing tennis, jogging and cooking for his family & friends.
Philippe Notton
Founder and CEO, SiPearl
10:35- 11:35
Panel Discussion
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Irena Bednarich
EMEA Director, Corporate Affairs, HPE
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Anders Dam Jensen
Executive Director, EuroHPC JU
Saila Rinne is the Head of Sector for policy in the unit “eHealth, Well-Being and Ageing” at the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission. Her unit works on supporting innovative digital health technologies, services and products that foster high quality and efficient health and care delivery and citizen empowerment in managing their own health.
Kimmo Koski
Managing Director, CSC – The Finnish IT Center for Science
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Prof. Dr. Michael Resch
Director of the HLRS, HPC Centre Stuttgart
Saila Rinne is the Head of Sector for policy in the unit “eHealth, Well-Being and Ageing” at the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) of the European Commission. Her unit works on supporting innovative digital health technologies, services and products that foster high quality and efficient health and care delivery and citizen empowerment in managing their own health.
Utz-Uwe Haus
Head of HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab, HPE
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Gustav Kalbe
Deputy Director of Directorate C & Head of Unit, High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology, DG CNECT, European Commission
Irena Bednarich is the Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this role, she leads HPE’s government relations and public policy team in the region and supports key public sector pursuits across EMEA.
Irena has wide-ranging experience in representing the tech sector at the European level; she currently holds several industry leadership roles including serving in her second term on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE, the EU-wide representation body for the digital and technology sectors.
After 14 years in Brussels, Irena has recently relocated to Dubai, UAE, to drive stronger alignment with the business in an important growth region. Irena is fluent in Italian, Slovenian, French, English and German and has working knowledge of Spanish.
Philippe Notton
Founder and CEO, SiPearl
11:35- 12:00
Audience Q&A
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is an industry leading technology company that enables customers to go further, faster. With the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio, spanning the cloud to the data center to workplace applications, our technology and services help customers around the world make IT more efficient, more productive and more secure.
Forum Europe events are where people and policy meet. We have been organising policy conferences in Brussels and around Europe since 1989. Our events provide unique insights from the people behind the policy and those seeking to influence it. Our expert team develop conference programmes with impact and provide first-class event logistics.Forum Europe is more than an event management and conference production specialist. With offices in Brussels and the UK, we operate across Europe and globally. Through our international arm, Forum Global, our events cover five continents, and engage policymakers and industry at national and regional levels around the world. Our mission is to drill down to the issues that matter, creating policy events that are ahead of the curve, facilitating frank and open debate on some of the most pressing issues facing Europe and the world today.
This event will take place using Forum Europe’s virtual solution. For more details on our virtual solution, please visit forum-europe.com.
© Copyright Forum Europe. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Cookies Policy | Booking Terms and Conditions | Registered in UK | Registered Office: Suite 8, 33-35 West Bute Street, Cardiff, CF10 5LH Tel: +44 (0) 2920 783 020 | Email: