'Large-scale computing' needs a government team driving it, says UK.gov

A report from the Government Office for Science has proposed the formation of an in-house team dedicated to large-scale computing, as it bemoans the nation's weak standing in the international supercomputing sector and makes a series of recommendations for improving matters. "This report sets out the building blocks required …

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

So....

Set up numerous government committees in the dept for administrative affairs to be concerned about the lack of supercomputers, or spend the money on buying actual supercomputers?

[Arthur the cat]

FFS

A report from the Government Office for Science … as it bemoans the nation's weak standing in the international supercomputing sector and makes a series of recommendations for improving matters.

Have supercomputers replaced nuclear arsenals as the politicians' strap-on penis of choice while I wasn't looking?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FFS

I expect the Minister was sat next to someone trying to sell him one at the last freebie.

[Ken G]

data is the new oil

When there's a large spillage it makes headlines and costs a fortune to clean up.

[jfollows]

I haven't read the report yet, but I'd be surprised if there's anything new in it. Dominic Tildesley wrote a report in 2011 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32499/12-517-strategic-vision-for-uk-e-infrastructure.pdf) and I expect a lot of the same messages. But it called for a coordinated and consistent approach to e-Infrastructure, rather than a "government team" and the latter sounds dreadful at first thought.

[WhiteDragon43]

@jfollows,

A "government team" - - the kiss of death to any IT foray, in my early days in the 70s I witnessed the development by a team of PFYs using Cobol create an industrial payment application, weekly pay. Unfortunately it took about a month to run on the latest of ICL's 1904E's - Arrogant bunch of twits!

Heaven help us all if Crapita is selected to assist, as ex-Army I choked when they were appointed for the recruitment task.

[ibmalone]

It's a gas

"take today's newspapers and the gas industry, take today's water industries, road, rail infrastructure"

Ah, about that...

(Particularly, this week, to suggest the gas industry as a shining example.)

[Arthur the cat]

Re: It's a gas

And newspapers are nothing to do with the government.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm building a 600 fp32 TFLOP home lab supercomputer! 4 nodes stuffed full of A4000's with 28 GB/sec infiniband interconnect. Should I offer it to HM gov to use during the weekends? o.o

[steelpillow]

Sure thing, boss

Yes, absolutely, what the UK desperately needs is a Whitehall-led business plan for supercomputer dominance - just like the one the National Enterprise Board hatched when it launched INMOS all those years ago. Anybody here old enough to remember how well that went?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Sure thing, boss

But these will be British supercomputers! With new silicon features made to fraction of inch, none of this French nanometre business

[Arthur the cat]

Re: Sure thing, boss

Yes, let's have state of the art chips fabricated using a 35 picofurlong process.

[steelpillow]

Re: Sure thing, boss

State of the art chips made on a line using a state of the art sub-micron process, the Line Architecture for Resolution Determination or LARD.