Open Call for Funding Opportunity: Business Experiments

FFplus (Fortissimo plus), the European initiative highlighting and promoting the adoption of High-Performance Computing (HPC) by SMEs and start-ups across Europe, has announced its second Open Call to fund business experiments.

Key Call Details:

  • Submission Deadline: August 26th, 2025 at 17:00 Brussels local time
  • Expected duration of experiments: maximum 15 months with targeted commencement January 1st, 2026
  • The indicative total funding budget for all sub-projects funded under this call is € 4M.

This announcement is the second call for proposals to address the uptake of HPC by SMEs in order to solve specific business challenges of SMEs that have had no prior use of, or experience with, HPC services. The resulting sub-projects will perform “business experiments” (also referred just as experiments) that should demonstrate to the broader European SME ecosystem that HPC uptake solves business challenges and leads to positive business impact through the use and deployment of HPC-based computational methods. Thus, their key outputs are success stories that promote, communicate, and disseminate the business impact of HPC uptake to the SME ecosystem.

Proposals are sought that address business challenges from European SMEs from varied application domains, whereby SMEs whose adoption of advanced HPC services will create the highest business impact will be prioritized. SMEs with an academic focus or activities with a potential impact only in the long term are not within the scope of the call.

In the context of the second Open Call for Business Experiments, FFplus offered two webinars to the public to receive all the information concerning the Call and answer questions.

More info : https://www.ffplus-project.eu/en/open-call/business-experiments/

Consultations with Five Group company for report preparation and new project application

 The members of the NCC Montenegro team, Prof. dr. Enis Kočan and Assist. prof.  Luka Filipović, have visited the Five Group company on July 18, 2025. At this meeting, the report form for Benchmark projects was presented and instructions were given to the Five Group company on how to prepare and complete this report, since the period of use of the obtained resources on Leonardo HPC for this company expires at the end of July. The members of the NCC Montenegro team have also held consultations with this company on the next steps in the preparation of the new project application. Based on the presented project proposal and the estimated needs of the Five Group company, it was recommended that after submitting the report for the Benchmark project, they prepare an application for the Development open call for the use of HPC resources.

Collaboration with NVIDIA, OpenACC and six NCCs

In collaboration with NVIDIA and the OpenACC organization, a group of National Competence Centers from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden organized several Bootcamps for the European HPC and AI user community.

Students, researchers from UDG and UoM, enthusiasts, and industry experts in the fields of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, together with hundreds of participants from across Europe, attended courses on parallel programming (N-Ways-GPU and Multi-GPU) and AI (AI for Science and AI Profiling). Researchers from Montenegro also contributed as teaching assistants.

As one of the events of this collaboration, we are pleased to announce the OpenAI Hackathon, which will take place from October 14 to 23, 2025. The event is led by NVIDIA and the OpenACC, together with the EuroCC National Competence Centres of Austria, Germany, and Poland.  Open AI Hackathons are multi-day, intensive hands-on events designed to help AI and ML engineers and data scientists accelerate, optimize, and scale their real-world projects leveraging the latest technologies. The event pairs participating teams with dedicated expert mentors to enhance the performance, efficiency, and scalability of their applications using state-of-the-art programming models, libraries, and tools. Whether you’re working on deep learning, data analytics, or model optimization, this hackathon provides a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of innovation using an advanced AI and ML infrastructure.

Important dates

  • 05 August 2025 – Application Deadline
  • Aug/Sep 2025 – Notification about Acceptance
  • 14.–23.10.2025, 09:00 – 17:00 CEST, Hackathon ONLINE (using Zoom)

More info, agenda and registration at LINK.

NCC Montenegro Presents HPC to Startups and Innovators at Science and Technology Park

As part of its mission to promote awareness and adoption of advanced HPC and AI technologies, the NCC Montenegro held an industry workshop at the Science and Technology Park (STP) Podgorica, Montenegro’s flagship innovation hub that empowers innovative companies and startups by offering incubation, training, mentorship, and access to collaborative networks.

The event brought together representatives of the local startup ecosystem and tech-oriented SMEs to explore how data-driven technologies can accelerate business development, supported by EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project objectives and NCC Montenegro’s service and training portfolio. Participants were introduced to practical examples of HPC and AI applications across various industry and research domains, including Success Stories from Montenegro. The workshop featured a demonstration of the HPC4SME assessment tool, and offered practical guidance on how interested companies can receive technical consultations, apply for access to top-tier European supercomputers through EuroHPC Calls, and engage in HPC-related funded projects, such as FFplus for Business Experiment Calls.

The event concluded with active Q&A session and follow-up discussions, reinforcing that innovation-driven companies in Montenegro have both the creativity and ambition to thrive in the high-tech arena—and that they value the NCC Montenegro’s opportunities to access powerful digital infrastructure and expertise.

More info : https://ntpark.me/en/news/superracunari-za-pametnije-biznise/

HPC and AI Innovations in Finance: NCC Montenegro Highlights at EuroCC Workshop

On June 23, 2025, representatives of NCC Montenegro participated in the fourth “Industry Sector of the Month” workshop, dedicated to the Finance & Insurance sector, together with colleagues from NCC Germany, France, and Slovakia. Luka Filipovic presented success stories from the sector, highlighting collaboration with innovative Montenegrin SMEs PAID, Uhura, and Fleka, showcasing use cases aligned with finance. The workshop provided best practice stories from the finance sector regarding the use of HPC and AI within the EuroCC network.

4th Industry Sector of the Month, Finance and Insurance

Deltahes Visits NCC Montenegro to Explore Collaboration Opportunities in HPC

Representatives of the company Deltahes recently visited the National Competence Centre Montenegro @UDGa, to explore potential or collaboration in the fields of digital transformation, industrial automation and high-performance computing. Deltahes is an innovation-driven startup founded in late 2022, specializing in digital transformation through cutting-edge solutions in industrial automation and IT. Their flagship platform, the Common Data Stack, enables seamless integration of production data and customized software systems—like MES, SCADA, and EMS—providing a centralized “cockpit” for efficient, data-driven industrial management.

Meeting with DeltaHes

Aleksandar Duković, founder of Deltahes was introduced to the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project, NCC’s services portfolio, including training programs, technical support, and access pathways to EuroHPC resources for SMEs and innovative companies. Particular emphasis was placed on the opportunities for utilizing HPC infrastructure for industrial innovation, as well as the potential integration of HPC-based analytics within platforms like Deltahes’ Common Data Stack. Both sides expressed interest in further collaboration in applying for EuroHPC resources to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies in Montenegro’s industrial/energy sector.

NCC Montenegro at CMBEBIH 2025 – Strengthening HPC Collaboration in the Western Balkans

NCC Montenegro will take part in the upcoming CMBEBIH 2025 conference, which will be held from September 11-13, 2025, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Organized by NCC HPC Bosnia and Herzegovina, in collaboration with partners, CMBEBIH 2025 is one of the region’s leading conferences dedicated to medical and biological engineering. The event brings together scientists, engineers, clinicians and innovators to exchange knowledge and shape the future of health technologies.

As part of this international conference, the first major EuroCC event in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be hosted. This will include a dedicated HPC session, where NCC Montenegro will present its success stories and contributions to advancing HPC adoption in industry, research and public services. This session is a unique opportunity for all NCCs to showcase impactful initiatives and explore avenues for joint actions, including cross-border workshops and collaborative projects, as previously discussed within our network.

📢 Call for Papers – Special Issue in Technology and Health Care (THC)

EuroCC colleagues are encouraged to submit papers for a special issue of the SAGE journal Technology and Health Care. Submissions representing the work of NCCs are especially welcome and will strengthen the visibility of our community’s contributions.

Submission Timeline:

  • Initial Submission: September 20, 2025
  • First Feedback: October 20, 2025
  • Final Submission: November 25, 2025

Papers must comply with the journal’s peer-review standards. More details are available on the [link].

💡 Oncology Hackathon at CMBEBIH 2025

 There will also be organized a special Hackathon in oncology, offering a space for interdisciplinary teams to co-create innovative solutions for cancer care. All interested students, researchers, clinicians, developers and data scientists are invited to register and join the challenge!

👉 Join us in Sarajevo and contribute to this milestone event for the EuroCC community!

 For registration and full details, visit: www.cmbebih.com