This episode’s guest is David Sumpter, Professor at Department of Mathematics; Statistics, AI and Data Science at Uppsala University in Sweden. He’s also the co-founder of Twelve Football, a company that helps football clubs understand all metrics better and make smarter decisions. We discuss the relation between math and football, their successes and challenges with working with football clubs and their AI product Earpiece.
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At the Montenegro STEM & Finance Forum 2026, successfully held on June 10th 2026 at the University of Donja Gorica, participants were introduced to the National Competence Centre of Montenegro (NCC Montenegro) within the framework of the international EuroCC3 project. The STEM & Finance Forum 2026 was an event dedicated to young innovators, entrepreneurs, and teams developing solutions in the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), finance, circular economy, and social innovation.
The presentation of NCC Montenegro and the EuroCC3 project was delivered by Prof. Dr Milica Vukotić, Vice-Rector of the University of Donja Gorica and the NCC Montenegro member, who highlighted the importance of developing advanced computing capacities and artificial intelligence as key drivers of Montenegro’s digital transformation.
NCC Montenegro represents a key infrastructure for the development of advanced computing technologies in Montenegro. Through the EuroCC3 project, the centre supports businesses, research institutions and the public sector in accessing high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence and big data analytics. The establishment of NCC Montenegro opens new opportunities for innovation, digital transformation and increased competitiveness of the Montenegrin economy on the European and global market, while also strengthening the link between science and industry through the joint development of solutions based on the most advanced technologies.
The Forum was organised by Junior Achievement Montenegro in cooperation with Chamber of Economy Montenegro and CKB bank in Montenegro and brought together representatives from academia and the business sector.
As part of the training programme, NCC Montenegro members, Arnad Lekić, Igor Ćulafić and Dr Stevan Čakić delivered a training session on the topic “The Use of AI Tools in Active Projects”, providing participants with insight into the practical application of artificial intelligence tools in real project scenarios and day-to-day work.
Dr Bojana Mališić delivered a training session on applying for EU projects, equipping participants with practical knowledge and guidance on accessing European funds and international financing programmes.
The presentation of NCC Montenegro at this event for young innovators and entrepreneurs reaffirms the University of Donja Gorica’s commitment to making advanced computing technologies and the outcomes of international projects accessible to the broader academic and business community in Montenegro.
The National Competence Centre (NCC) for High-Performance Computing (HPC) in Montenegro participated in the final project review meetings of EuroCC2 and EuroCC4SEE, held at the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking premises in Luxembourg. The meetings brought together representatives of NCCs, project coordination teams, reviewers, and the European Commission Project Officer to assess the last phase (01.01.2025-31.03.2026) of project implementation, results, and future sustainability.
EuroCC2 and EuroCC4SEE group picture
The EuroCC2 Final Project Review took place on 20–21 May 2026, covering overall project management, financial and operational reporting aspects, 34 NCCs (countries) presentations, dissemination and exploitation results, as well as interactive discussions and final feedback from the reviewers. The EuroCC4SEE Final Project Review followed on 22 May 2026, featuring a dedicated session for NCC Montenegro, alongside the National Competence Centres of Türkiye, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the Montenegro presentation, NCC Montenegro highlighted its role as a national access point and service hub for HPC, HPDA, and AI, supporting companies, start-ups, academia, and public institutions in understanding and adopting advanced computing technologies. A key part of the presentation focused on Montenegro’s progress in user engagement and capacity building.
EuroCC4SEE country representatives, PMT managers EU policy officer at the Final Review 22.05.2026
The NCC reported overachieved results in engaging with SMEs, start-ups, academia, and public institutions, including over 100 HPC4SME assessments, more than 35 company visitsand technical consultations, and expert support for more than 15 EuroHPC access applications across diverse industrial use cases and research domains.
NCC Montenegro also presented its user-centric training portfolio, delivered in cooperation with more than 20 European NCCs and CoEs, industry partners such as NVIDIA, and key national stakeholders supporting the MNE innovation ecosystem. The portfolio included over 40 training events, industry workshops, hands-on boot camps, and webinar series, reaching more than 1500 participants and covering a broad range of HPC, HPDA, and AI topics.
The final review meetings confirmed the importance of NCC Montenegro as a bridge between European supercomputers and the national innovation ecosystem. Looking ahead, the NCC Montenegro will continue to support SMEs, start-ups, academia, industry, and public institutions by providing expert guidance, professional training, EuroHPC access support, and hands-on assistance in developing high-impact HPC and AI use cases.
A research proposal submitted under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking Development Access call (EHPC-DEV-2026D06-045) has been successfully evaluated and officially approved, marking a continued commitment to HPC-driven atmospheric research in Montenegro.
The project, titled “HPC Development for Very-High-Resolution Atmospheric Reanalysis over Montenegro (1994–2008) Using the WRF-NMM Modeling System and ERA5 Reanalysis Data”, has been granted 4,000 node hours on the LUMI-C partition for a period of 12 months. This represents a continuation of the previously completed project on the LUMI HPC system, which successfully delivered very-high-resolution atmospheric simulations over Montenegro using the same modelling framework.
Lumi HPC
The research builds upon the NMM (Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model) dynamic core, originally developed by Prof. Zavisa Janjic, and aims to produce very-high-resolution atmospheric simulations reaching horizontal resolutions of up to 400 metres over the Montenegrin domain, driven by ERA5 reanalysis data. Building on the results and experience gained in the previous allocation, the project continues to advance ongoing research in numerical weather prediction and atmospheric modelling on state-of-the-art HPC infrastructure.
This allocation enables IHMS to further advance research in numerical weather prediction and atmospheric modelling, leveraging the capabilities of state-of-the-art HPC infrastructure, said Angel Marcev, Principal Investigator (PI) of the project, from the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro.
The National Competence Centre (NCC) Montenegro provided support throughout the application process within the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking framework.
CyberCo, a Montenegro-based technology company and owner of the GetMoved software platform IP, has been awarded EuroHPC AI Factory resources for the second time through the EuroHPC Fast Lane call, with the support from UoM team from NCC Montenegro. The newly approved allocation provides 15,000 GPU hours on LUMI-G, one of Europe’s most powerful AI supercomputing environments, supporting the continued development of GetMoved’s distributed AI-powered logistics and indoor scene understanding platform.
“Large-scale AI model fine-tuning, distributed computer vision training, volumetric object estimation and optimization of advanced indoor inventory recognition workflows from smartphone-recorded videos are the core focus of this phase of development. The project is focused on improving AI models capable of detecting household objects, estimating their dimensions, calculating approximate volume and weight, and generating logistics-ready inventory data for moving and transportation operations,” said Bojan Djakovic, Principal Investigator (PI) of the project.
The project also includes optimization of distributed GPU pipelines, multi-object tracking, embedding generation and large-scale video processing workflows using EuroHPC infrastructure.
This new allocation represents another important milestone for CyberCo and GetMoved as the company continues building scalable AI technologies for logistics, mobility and intelligent inventory automation.
Through the joint efforts of the EuroCC and MonteDiH projects, successful collaboration has been established with three public administration institutions in Montenegro. Within this collaboration, EuroCC facilitated access to advanced computing resources, while MonteDiH delivered training sessions aimed at strengthening digital competences within the public sector. This partnership demonstrates how synergies between European and national initiatives can deliver concrete results for public institutions, contributing to Montenegro’s broader digital transformation agenda.
NCC Montenegro delivered an invited lecture titled “HPC & AI: Powering Montenegro’s Digital Development” at the Generative Artificial Intelligence Workshop organized by EESTEC LC Podgorica, held from May 15–20, 2026. The event brought together students from Montenegro and across Europe, reflecting the growing international interest in AI and HPC topics in the region.
The lecture covered the fundamentals of High-Performance Computing and eInfrastructures, as well as Montenegro’s active involvement in the EuroCC network and related national initiatives. A particular focus was placed on real-world applications of HPC and AI relevant to Montenegro’s digital development — including smart agriculture, medical imaging, weather forecasting, financial analytics, and document process automation. Participants were introduced to NCC Montenegro’s portfolio of success stories, showcasing how Montenegrin companies and research institutions are already leveraging advanced computing technologies. The lecture highlighted EuroHPC infrastructure and access opportunities available to students, researchers, and SMEs through NCC Montenegro, reinforcing the Centre’s commitment to building HPC and AI competences across academia, industry, and public administration.
