Supporting competitiveness and innovation potential of SMEs

Stimulating the HPC innovation potential of SMEs will lead to:

• Enhanced European competitiveness in the market by enabling SMEs to perform efficiently using HPC, e.g. simulations, computational modelling and data-intensive analytics.
• Accelerated innovation by novel ideas, in-depth research and development of cutting-edge solutions through faster prototyping, optimisation and experimentation etc. enabled by HPC.
• Improved productivity and efficiency by reducing production cycles as complex computations can be completed in significantly less time and resources can be allocated more efficiently.
• Expanded business opportunities and opening new markets by the uptake of services enabled for instance by large-scale simulations, data analysis, large language models or machine learning utilising HPC resources
• Widening the HPC user base by attracting new users of HPC in different application domains.

Central objective of the action is to empower SMEs with advanced computational capabilities on the basis of HPC, enabling them to drive innovation, enhance competitiveness, and overcome challenges in the digitisation of R&D and business processes. By promoting HPC adoption, the action will unlock new opportunities, accelerate growth, and foster economic development for SMEs. Stimulating the HPC innovation potential of SMEs aims to position SMEs as technology leaders, fuel their success, and contribute to the overall advancement of industries and economies.

Proposals are expected to define an outreach approach for identifying and attracting SMEs whose innovation potential and competitiveness will be significantly increased by the uptake of advanced HPC services. A mechanism involving financial support to third parties through open calls will adequately stimulate such innovation potential of SMEs participating in the action. The action supports SMEs to solve specific business challenges through uptake of HPC.

The EuroHPC JU considers that a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 30 million and a duration of 4 years would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nevertheless this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals with another duration or requesting other amounts.