Kobe is being transformed from a port city to a technological hub.
Kobe’s supercomputer is positioned as one of Japan’s fundamental national technologies to support the development of Japanese science, technology and industry in the future, supported by the government.
The next-generation machine has been under development since fiscal 2006, with the think tank RIKEN acting as its main developer. The seven-year project is estimated to cost about 115 billion yen by the time of its completion towards the end of fiscal 2011.
This supercomputer simulation technology is indispensable for the development of science, technology and industry in the future as the third means after experiments and theories – a means linking the last two.
Kobe’s supercomputer will boast the world’s most advanced performance achieving a processing speed of 10 quadrillion (10,000 times a trillion) floating-point operations per second.
Furthermore, the establishment of a supercomputing research and education base known as a center of excellence (COE) of the world’s highest level will develop Kobe into a ‘base of wisdom’ assembling world-class researchers and businesses within this city.
The new supercomputer will be open to private and public sectors, academia and government without assuming any specified area of use so that it’s technology can be shared for wide applications ranging from basic research to industrial use.