11.5 Teraflops for Africa: the Blue Gene®/P system

Opportunities for economic development in Africa have been at the forefront of recent scientific discussion.
As part of its Global Innovation Outlook, computer giant IBM recently donated a Blue Gene supercomputer to South Africa’s Centre for High Performance Computing. The donation was part of a USD 120 million investment in sub-Saharan Africa, announced by IBM in December 2007.
The Blue Gene^®/P system is capable of 11.5 Teraflops and is currently the fastest scientific computer in Africa. This donation has given impetus to “Blue Gene for Africa” (BG4A), an initiative that aims to build high-end computing capacity in Africa. The project aims to develop infrastructure, promote collaborative science that will impact Africa, and develop Africa’s human capital.
At the launch of the “Blue Gene for Africa” project, Dr Mark Dean, IBM Fellow and Vice President of IBM’s Technical Strategy and Worldwide Operations, called attention to the importance of research and development in giving organisations and countries a competitive edge. He suggested that Africa needs more R&D to spur further socio-economic development, and that investment in the development of human capital as well as infrastructure was therefore crucial. Blue Gene is thus part of IBM’s contribution to sparking scientific and socio-economic progress in the African continent.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, shared Dr Dean’s view, emphasising the role that a tool like the Blue Gene supercomputer can and should play in addressing some of the major needs and challenges of the African continent.
Johan Eksteen, Manager of Technology Research Programme at the Meraka Institute also agreed that the Blue Gene would be a holistic addition to the present cyberinfrastructure of the DST as implemented by the CSIR.

Flagships will find super-support

The BG4A supercomputer will predominantly be used to run Flagship projects, which are awarded following a stringent selection process. Frontrunners include a mineral beneficiation project, a project on the large-scale impact of climate change, and a project on food security and the nutritional values of cassava root. The potential Bue Gene user community is even more broad, including those interested in environmental simulations, agricultural modelling, energy generation and usage, information analytics and complex systems modelling for business systems, risk management, financial models, transportation management, health and more.
The Blue Gene system is a resource for all of Africa, and Dr Dean has invited African higher education and research institutions to take advantage of its high performance computing facilities to conduct cutting-edge, socially relevant research. Researchers who wish to access what is now the fastest research supercomputer on the continent are encouraged to contact the Centre for High Performance Computing to find the optimal fit for their requirements.

International partnerships and potential

President and CEO of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Sibusiso Sibisi, linked the research enabled by the “Blue Gene for Africa” initiative with prospects for improving quality of life of ordinary African citizens, particularly through poverty alleviation. Such outcomes are relevant in the context of the CSIR’s mandate.
At the same time, however, Dr Sibisi stressed the importance of the “Blue Gene for Africa” initiative in promoting collaborative research internationally.
One such collaboration already exists between the Meraka Institute and the European Commission funded BELIEF-II consortium; it is envisaged that BELIEF-II will make a significant contribution to the development of the “Blue Gene for Africa” project and subsequently foster a wider range of eScience partnerships between African and international institutions.