Canadian government to make $12m investment for supercomputer

The federal and provincial governments of Canada has announced plans to invest CA$16.4m (US$12m) in Arbutus Research Cloud; the largest cloud computing site for academic research in Canada, for its supercomputer infrastructure.

“Cloud computing accelerates the speed of research and streamlines collaboration across countries and continents,” said Lisa Kalynchuk, vice president of research and innovation at the University of Victoria. “We’re very grateful for this investment, which will support both fundamental science and applied research discoveries that impact our everyday lives - from unlocking secrets of the brain, to understanding the cosmos, to modeling solutions for a healthier, more sustainable future.”

“Advanced research computing is a vital tool in the Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy,” said Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “Today’s announcement will help ensure the researchers are better equipped to optimize research data to generate cutting-edge knowledge and ideas. Expanding the capacity of Canadian supercomputing power ensures that Canada maintains its science and research excellence and remains globally competitive.”