NCC Montenegro shared its HPC academic-related experience at the Romanian event “HPC MasterClass”

Representative of NCC Montenegro Ms. Sanja Nikolic participated in the HPC Masterclass, a hybrid event held at “Ovidius” University of Constanța (20-24.05.2024) co-organized by NCC Romania. The second day of the training event was dedicated to NCC’s shared experience on HPC academic utilization and research excellence, introducing presenters from NCC Portugal, Montenegro, Bulgaria, France, and Luxembourg. Ms. Nikolic presented the development of the HPC+ (HPC and related technologies) educational ecosystem in Montenegro, intensively driven by the EuroCC project, NCC Montenegro and the University of Donja Gorica.

NCC Montenegro is focused on developing HPC/HPDA/AI academic programs, study courses, and training portfolios, following a sustained learning pathway:

HPC/AI-related seasonal schools to mobilize high-school students and high-tech enthusiasts to enroll in HPC/AI-related academic programs. (“Open Mind Academy”).
BSc restructured program (M1-Software Development and M2-Digital Transformation), and first nationally accredited AI Master Program, at Faculty for Information Systems and Technologies.
Professional training courses, workshops, and networking events for academia and industry participants providing in-demand HPC/AI knowledge, technical upskilling, and supercomputing hands-on sessions.

NCC Montenegro’s training portfolio covers technology-specific know-how (HPC system architecture and applications, Parallel Programming, Python Programming, Deep Learning, Edge IoT, Computer Vision, NLL) and industry-specific priority domains, defined by the Smart Specialization Strategy of Montenegro (energy, health, tourism, agriculture, ICT).

NCC Montenegro is also fully exploiting joint training opportunities within the pan-European NCC network – to capitalize on their HPC expertise and resources, as well as productive collaboration with key MNE stakeholders (business associations, technical affiliations, and funding institutions) – to enhance national HPC/AI awareness, outreach and uptake.

Nvidia AI for Science Bootcamp

The AI for Scientific Computing Bootcamp provides a step-by-step overview of the fundamentals of deep neural networks and walks attendees through the hands-on experience of building and improving deep learning models for applications related to scientific computing and physical systems defined by differential equations. The material will cover more advanced topics such as physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) and operator learning and make use of tools like NVIDIA Modulus to develop and train the models. This online bootcamp is a hands-on learning experience where you will be guided through step-by-step instructions with teaching assistants on hand to help throughout.

This Bootcamp, which will be hosted virtually for three days on June 25 – 26, is co-organized by the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS)Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC)Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ)Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC)University of Donja GoricaRISE Research Institutes Of SwedenLinköping UniversityOpenACC organization, and NVIDIA for EuroCC AustriaEuroCC@GCS, EuroCC Montenegro, and EuroCC Sweden, all National Competence Centres for High-Performance Computing.

More info and registration : https://www.openhackathons.org/s/siteevent/a0C5e000008AbEaEAK/se000315

NCC Montenegro and CIGRE organized successful HPC/AI Energy Workshop

NCC Montenegro, in collaboration with Montenegrin National Committee of CIGRE, one of the leading worldwide organizations on electric power systems, successfully organized a collaborative workshop, focusing on opportunities and benefits of HPC and AI complementary technologies in the energy sector, industry best practices and examples of high-fidelity energy metrics modelling. The workshop was attended by approx. 30 participants, academic researchers and industry experts, effectively converging HPC-powered AI research advancements with challenges and opportunities in the energy sector, driven by quality of predictive analytics and sustainability of energy models.

Representatives of HPC National Competence Centre of Montenegro, Sanja Nikolic and Luka Filipovic presented EUROCC2 project, NCC services, EuroHPC infractructure acces, PC4SME assessment tool and research, as well as success stories demonstrating advancements in HPC and AI applications in energy sector.

Mr Darko Krivokapić, Executive Director of the Directorate for Energy Management of the Montenegrin Electric Enterprise (EPCG), presented characteristics of Montenegro energy system and challenges of short- and long-term predictions of energy prices and consumption, depending on Montenegrin energy balance, renewable energy sources, weather conditions and trade dynamics/external risks facing electricity wholesale markets.

Mr Milutin Pavicevic PhD student@University of Donja Gorica and CEO of Alicorn, presented forecasting day-ahead electricity metrics (prices and loads) with different models of artificial neural networks and its accuracy comparison on the given dataset, elaborating on possible commercial implications in energy sector.

Mr Lazar Scekic, Teaching Assistant @University of Montenegro, introduced the audience with its research work on security challenges of electricity infrastructure (GPS spoofing) and reliable AI methods for the protection of electrical power systems against cyberattacks.

Mr Ivan Vujovic, PhD student @University of Belgrade and CEO of Tering, presented models related to prediction of production and consumption of electrical energy in the electrical system by using recurrent neural networks, discussing quality parameters that determine and improve predictive functioning of energy systems.

HPC and AI energy workshop enhanced awareness of NCC Montenegro services and EuroHPC infrastructure resources, available free of charge for the Montenegrin industry for the purpose of research, development and innovation.

Intensive discussion and exchange of opinions, expertise and experience between energy systems’ researchers and practitioners, including meteorological professionals also, open possibilities for the productive collaboration on calibrating computationally-demanding AI/ML models for national energy datasets, to improve their learning accuracy, prediction rates and potential of its commercial utilization in the energy system of Montenegro.

NCC MNE shared best practices @Industry Coffee Break

At the Industry Coffee Break on April 2nd, NCC representative Sanja Nikolic presented a concise overview of communication strategies, organizational efforts and NCCs and industry collaboration practices related to preparation of industry workshops in Montenegro, aimed to increase awareness on HPC/AI benefits, NCC services and EuroHPC infrastructure opportunities.

NCC Montenegro shared their strategic focus on cooperation with business associations, technology affiliations and industry clusters in organizing tailored HPC/AI workshops and steering companies’ interactions always keeping communication channels open and the collaboration model attractive (free NCC expertise and access to EuroHPC resources).

NCC Montenegro strongly supports international and interdisciplinary workshops to capitalize on the experience and expertise of the pan-European NCCs network, to heavily exploit EuroCC2 Success Stories, and to provide peer testimonials from companies already utilizing HPC resources to develop/optimize their AI models and promote business innovations.

HPC4SME AAT: Welcoming SMEs into HPC World

On 27th of March a HPC4SME AAT Task Force meeting was organized by NCC SLING Slovenia and led by partner Arctur. NCC Montenegro representative Sanja Nikolic participated in the meeting, aimed to promote the wider use of the HPC4SME Automated Assessment Tool within the NCCs network. The goal is to effectively reach European industry users and empower them with HPC technologies.

The HPC4SME AAT offers a streamlined process for companies to discover if and how they can benefit from innovative HPC technologies and applications. Company interaction starts with filling out web-based questionnaire, utilizing online HPC+ tutorials, receiving customized report with recommendations, and contacting NCC’s experts for further support/free access to HPC resources for companies’ R&D&I needs.
NCC Montenegro shared valuable first-hand experiences for successful utilization of HPC4SME AAT during the first EuroCC project phase, for HPC/HPDA/AI awareness raising, market intelligence, competence mapping and industry steering process. Based on the 50+ completed, companies’ assessments and advanced analytics, NCC Montenegro provided market- and industry-specific evidence on HPC potential users in Montenegro, and consequently completed 3 Success Stories with NCC experts support.

NCC SLING Slovenia upgraded HPC4SME Automated Assessment Tool with the support of the NCCs and officially launched it in late 2023. Currently, 24 NCCs are utilizing HPC4SME AAT across EuroCC2 footprint, with growing numbers local languages customizations and completed companies’ assessments. At this occasion, we kindly invite all industrial end-users, especially SMEs, to assess their HPC readiness and receive further NCC Montenegro support. Start here.

Workshop: Application of HPC & AI in energy sector

NCC Montenegro, in collaboration with CIGRE Montenegro, is pleased to announce a collaborative workshop scheduled for March 29, 2024. This workshop is designed to enhance industry relations and explore the applications of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies within the energy sector.
The workshop will provide Montenegrin companies with a comprehensive overview, including:

  • An introductory session on HPC systems, technologies, applications, and associated benefits.
  • Insights into the HPC activities spearheaded by NCC Montenegro.
  • Showcasing HPC success stories and best practices across diverse industries.
  • Highlighting success stories in the energy sector, both in Montenegro and across Europe.
  • Networking opportunities and follow-up consultations for attendees.

We believe that this workshop will significantly enhance awareness of HPC & AI opportunities in the energy sector. It will offer valuable insights and inspirational use cases to members and partners of CIGRE Montenegro, empowering them to remain abreast of the latest technologies and industry trends. Moreover, attendees will discover the transformative potential of supercomputing capabilities in augmenting their business strategies and competitiveness.

Event Details:
Date: 29.03.2024.
Time: 12:00
Location: Podgorica, University of Donja Gorica, 5th floor, hall Vizija
Registration link: https://forms.gle/NBTpJrhLrBZgznfBA
Agenda :

Join us and explore HPC and AI technologies with us, and take the chance to improve work in the energy sector.

Zabljak hosted successful international workshop on HPC/AI industry applications

During 28th international IT IEEE conference in Zabljak, Montenegro, the EuroCC2 HPC/HPDA/AI Workshop gathered together presenters from 6 NCCs and 5 companies providing a brief overview on more than 20 PoCs, use cases, and success stories, driven by computationally-intensive demand and innovative application portfolio. The workshop was attended by almost 140 participants from academia and industry (up to 60 joining virtually and another 80 in person), who had an opportunity to gain valuable insights and deepen their understanding of HPC benefits within industrial, interdisciplinary and international context.

The workshop was opened by Panayiota Katsamba’s presentation on NCC Cyprus’ strategic framework for industry steering, emphasizing the importance of cohesive pitching and managing companies’ expectations through the industry scout concept which resulted in numerous success stories.


Colleagues from Slovenia, Mrs Tina Crnigoj Marc from Arctur d.o.o. presented an HPC4SME automated tool designed for assessing Cloud HPC readiness among the companies, while Saso Knez, CEO of AFormX, shared insights on advanced aviation projects, talking about challenges on light aircraft configuration that were successfully addressed by HPC resources and simulations.

Three Montenegrin IT companies presented their AI-driven or HPC-supported industry cases. Ivan Boskovic, CEO of ITAS introduced us to their software solutions and business perspective in integrating LegalTech and FinTech opportunities. Ivan Soc, CEO of FiveGroup, discussed about EdTech tools and services, and ambitions to enhance classroom learning through VR/AR/Gaming-based experiences.. Marko Lekic, CTO of Fleka presented personalized banking software solutions, SKEN App – personal expense tracker, and ML/NLP-based classification algorithm developed with the support of HPC expert Luka Filipovic from NCC Montenegro, which enables automatic categorization of consumer transactions into spending categories.

At the beginning of the second part of the workshop, Ozlem Sari demonstrated NCC Turkey’s industry excellence, through well-structured industry interaction, PoC evaluation and HPC onboarding process, resulting in 12 Success Stories in various technology and industry domains.

Andreea Dinu and Sebastian Murau from Romania shared their NCC experience on opportunities and challenges in fostering productive industry interaction, elaborating further on use cases and study cases. Following them, Andreea Moga from the Netherlands successfully presented their NCC industry services, engagement and customer journey process, followed by inspirational PoC/use cases including the development of AI models based on satellite data for soil nutrient monitoring/regenerative agriculture or AI models based on drone data to calculate oil spills surface and thickness.

The workshop concluded with Petre Lameski’s presentation, highlighting HPC use cases that promote industry collaboration within NCC North Macedonia: Scalable Electricity Meters Data Processing with 42Dynamics, Voucher Generation case with Interctec and Automated Transcription Tool with Hate Speech Analysis use case for Agency for Audio ad Audiovisual Media Services.