Category: Industry collaboration

DeepMark, a start-up company working on development of invisible and permanent digital marks (watermarks) that can be embedded in images, audio, and video content without compromising quality has made successful application to EuroHPC JU Development call, thus gaining 4500 node hours to Leonardo Booster partition for a period of one year. NCC Montenegro supported this project application.

Provenance for synthetic media remains unsolved: most watermarks fail after routine processing, and especially under modern AI transforms. DeepMark advance a learning-based system that co-trains a neural embedder and detector through a differentiable signal chain that mimics real pipelines. Goals of the project are: (i) lower bit-error rates at equal perceptual quality; (ii) patchable watermarking so future embedders remain detectable by a single detector; and (iii) calibrated, segment-level detection for forensics and compliance. Access to A100 nodes and a parallel file system is required to tune multi-GPU scaling and remove I/O bottlenecks.

On October 1, NCC Montenegro had the pleasure of welcoming Konstantin Kolotov, CTO of DIGITAL FABRIC, a company active in the field of AI and advanced digital solutions and product strategies. The visit followed an initial introduction at the KOMPact event, where both sides identified shared interests and complementary strengths in leveraging AI solutions and HPC resources, particularly in the area of smart tourism.

During discussions at the NCC Montenegro offices, Mr Kolotov as a founder and a co-founder introduced portfolio of projects and start-ups, shaping innovative use for testing and scaling AI-enabled solutions:

• HiGem.ai – a platform designed for travel destinations, to enhance destination management and visitor experience.
• Trendcore.ai – a solution for the fashion industry focused on AI-driven visual content generation.

Both initiatives demonstrate how AI-powered platforms can foster business innovation. The conversation also addressed advanced computing requirements, EuroHPC system access opportunities, and the role of NCC Montenegro in providing support and guidance for future developments.

In addition, the visit opened dialogue on potential academic collaboration, with a focus on digital innovation and AI applications in tourism. Joint interest was expressed in co-developing research initiatives, pilot projects, and knowledge exchange activities.

Prof. Enis Kočan, a member of NCC Montenegro, has visited TRID TECH in Podgorica. TRID TECH is a new IT company specializing in comprehensive and customizable managed cybersecurity services, delivered by a team of highly trained professionals. Their focus is on managing cyber risks and ensuring compliance, with the aim of providing an exceptional client experience. Their services include cybersecurity advisory, endpoint and network security, data privacy, and cloud infrastructure security, all geared towards creating robust, secure architectures and meeting regulatory requirements.

During the visit, Prof. Kočan introduced the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project to TRID TECH’s director, Mr. Dmitar Ćulafić, and his team. He detailed the available services and training programs, highlighting the opportunity to access HPC resources for free through EuroHPC JU open calls. TRID TECH, which is working on several GPU-intensive projects, recognized this as a valuable chance to test their algorithms and improve their big data processing efficiency. Prof. Kočan also presented the upcoming 2nd Open FFplus Call for Innovation Studies, outlining its goals, eligibility criteria, and potential benefits..

NCC Montenegro team from the University of Montenegro (UoM), prof. Božo Krstajić and prof. Enis Kočan has visited startup company Deepmark, co-founded by former researcher from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering – UoM, Slavko Kovačević, MSc. This startup company represents an example of how top-tier academic research transforms into real-world solutions.

DeepMark develops technology for invisible and permanent digital marks (watermarks) that can be embedded in images, audio, and video content without compromising quality. These marks enable proof of origin, ownership, and authenticity of content – which is becoming crucial in the era of artificial intelligence and generative media.

NCC team has presented the opportunities to access EUroHPC JU resources through different open calls, as well as to obtain financial support to realize ideas through FFplus calls. Deepmark company has already used HPC resources on a commercial basis and plans to prepare proposal to access EuroHPC JU resources.