FFplus Partners Contribute to Several Events to Promote the First Open Call
The first FFplus Open Call is in full swing. To ensure that valuable information reaches as many SMEs and start-ups as possible, and to encourage their participation, our FFplus partners have been actively presenting the call at various events.
One such event was the Poland AI Ecosystem Meetup, held on 19th June in Warsaw, Poland. Organised by NVIDIA, the event featured discussions on generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), including examples of ongoing projects, such as an initiative focused on developing a Polish language model. The second part of the event was dedicated to networking, where Cyfronet partners had the opportunity to engage directly with business representatives, discussing their HPC/AI needs and exploring how the FFplus initiative could support them.
In June and July 2024, the FFplus project actively participated in two significant events in Stuttgart, aimed at promoting the importance of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and fostering innovation within the industry. On 24th June, during the closed industry stakeholder event "Innovation Drivers 6: Smart Solutions: Innovation through AI and Data Visualisation," organised by IT Region Stuttgart at HLRS, Sophia Honisch from HLRS represented FFplus. In a focused session, she shared success stories from the FF4EuroHPC project, underscoring the critical role of HPC and emerging technologies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The session also provided an excellent opportunity to introduce the mission of FFplus and announce the first open call, which sparked considerable interest among the attendees.
On 11th July, Sophia Honisch continued the outreach at the Startup Summit BW, held at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart. The event featured booths from local Baden-Württemberg startups and accelerators, creating a vibrant environment for networking and knowledge exchange. Sophia took the initiative to engage with exhibitors and visitors, sharing information about the FFplus open call and exploring potential collaborations. This proactive approach helped generate valuable contacts and raised awareness of the project’s efforts to support startups and SMEs in leveraging HPC for innovation.
On 30th July, Tina Črnigoj Marc from Arctur presented the FFplus Initiative and its Open Call online during the “DIGI-SI Financial Clinics” event, organised under the auspices of EDIH DIGI-SI from Slovenia. She introduced Slovenian companies to the Fortissimo open call mechanism and shared some of its success stories.
In August, the FFplus project was further promoted at the 53rd International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP) in Gotland, Sweden. On 14th August, Dennis Grieger from HLRS delivered a presentation titled "Unlocking the Potential of HPC and AI for SMEs and Startups." He provided an overview of the outcomes from the Fortissimo 1 and 2 projects, as well as FF4EuroHPC, before discussing the new funding opportunities available through the FFplus project. His presentation emphasised the project’s ongoing commitment to empowering SMEs to enhance their competitiveness through the integration of HPC, high-performance data analytics (HPDA), and AI.
