NCC Montenegro is driving forward its mission to foster innovation by leveraging HPC-empowered AI development through strategic collaborations with local companies and startups.
NCC Montenegro conducted initiated consultations with Five Group, one of Montenegro’s leading IT companies specializing in 3D design, gaming, and AI-based systems and discussed HPC resources to boost productivity and support their advanced AI applications. Two potential projects were identified, and pathways for applying to EuroHPC resources were explored. Five Group’s collaboration with the University of Montenegro (UCG) further underscores its dedication to advancing education through appealing innovative solutions
NCC members visited Čikom company, one of the largest IT companies in Montenegro, to explore HPC support for the project related to the AI System for Pathological Analysis of Adenocarcinoma. NCC Montenegro will provide expert guidance on optimizing computational models to accelerate the project outcomes.
Developed by ONE AI startup and supported by the Innovation Fund, AIHeal project integrates sensor technologies and mobile devices to monitor patient health in real-time. The system enables precise diagnostics, reduces costs, and optimizes health conditions monitoring. Through NCC Montenegro’s support, HPC resources will be explored to enhance AIHeal’s data processing capabilities, ensuring efficient and reliable performance.
With a shared vision for innovation push and technological excellence, these collaborations showcase the potential of HPC and AI in driving advancements that promise to elevate healthcare, education, and industry standards.
Uhura Solutions is developing AI platform for document-driven process automation in financial services. The “Generative AI Intelligent Process Automation Platform – GAIPAP” project is a transformative initiative aimed at revolutionizing the financial industry through the integration of advanced AI-driven automation solutions that combine capabilities of Large Language Model (LLM), low-code development, and process automation workflows. This unique fusion of technologies holds the potential to significantly enhance operational efficiency, cost reduction, and customer experience within the financial sector.
An exceptional aspect of the platform is the incorporation of fine-tuned Large language models (LLMs), which sets it apart from generic AI solutions. These LLMs, refined for the financial industry’s unique language, context, and patterns, promise to deliver more precise and relevant insights. The platform’s value proposition is further strengthened by its ability to streamline workflows, offer scalability, real-time data insights, and elevate customer experiences. The integration of a low-code development framework and process automation workflows enables swift prototyping and deployment of AI-driven models, thereby accelerating time-to-market and capitalizing on market opportunities effectively.
The project involves the use of open-source Python libraries and pre-trained Large language models which are fine-tuned on a custom-made private dataset created by the team, allowing for specialized tasks within the financial sector. Leonardo supercomputer enabled us to make a leap with GPU training experiments from 1B to 7B and higher Large language models. We are focusing on various LLM research and optimization methods in this phase of the project, which include hyperparameter tuning, model quantization and pruning, and parameter efficient fine-tuning (PEFT). Special attention is put on dataset preprocessing including quality filtering, deduplication and privacy redacting.
This project, developed and managed by Uhura Solutions, was awarded with 4,500 node hours of GPU resources (8x64GB) on the Leonardo Buster HPC for a duration of 12 months.
On Saturday, December 21st, the University of Donja Gorica will host an HPC/AI Workshop and Student Conference, where participants from the AIFusion and HPC4S3ME projects will present their results.
HPC/AI Workshop and student conference are organized in context of HPC4S3ME and AI Fusion projects
The event will include:
Presentation of key results and achievements of both projects,
NCC Montenegro and EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE presentation,
Presentation of student projects,
Panel discussion,
Coctail and networking.
Location: AP Amphitheatre, University of Donja Gorica Time: 10:00am – 16:00pm
The full agenda:
After the program, the socializing will continue with a cocktail. Join us to celebrate the results and exchange ideas in the field of HPC and AI
NCC Montenegro is co-organizing industry-focused workshops and networking events to inspire innovative companies, SMEs and startups to learn how to improve their business processes and accelerate innovations with supercomputing HPC/AI opportunities. NCC experts provide HPC and AI technical expertise and infrastructure access, adjusted to the business environment and industry domains.
In cooperation with ICT Cortex (ICT Cluster for Information Technologies, Innovation, Education, Design and Technology Development in Montenegro)-gathering more than 40 founding members and 1800 IT experts, NCC Montenegro is organizing workshop “Supercomputing Opportunities for Industry Leaders” on 18th of Dec, to present HPC/AI systems and benefits, NCC services and activities, as well as EuroHPC infrastructure opportunities.
Montenegro’s ICT sector has been recognized as the catalyst for the development of an innovative economy and for strengthening the competitiveness and multiple industries. ICT industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in Montenegro accumulating more than €600 in 2022 (vs €124mn in 2012), achieving almost 10% of GDP (vs 4% in 2012) and 21% of country’s total exports (vs 3% in 2017), according to ICT Cortex /CEED Consulting analyses.
We believe that this workshop will increase awareness on HPC&AI opportunities, provide valuable insights and inspirational use cases to the members and partners of ICT Cortex, enabling them to discover supercomputing power to enhance their innovative business and industry competitiveness.
As part of the activities of connecting NCC Montenegro with industry and their greater engagement in the use of HPC resources in business, the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project team from the University of Montenegro (Prof. Dr. Božo Krstajić and Prof. Dr. Enis Kočan) visited Čikom, one of the largest IT companies in Montenegro, on December 13, 2024. Čikom was represented by Ivan Bošković, who is also the CEO of the subsidiary company IT Advanced Services (ITAS), Radovan Rutešić (IT designer), Anđela Bojović (software developer) and Đorđe Krstajić (implementer).
We presented the activites of NCC Montengro to Cikom and ITAS
At the meeting, the services and activities of NCC Montenegro within the EuroCC2/EuroCC4SEE project were presented to the representatives of the Čikom company. Ongoing and planned projects within the Čikom company were discussed, in order to determine possible needs for the use of HPC resources. This opportunity was particularly interesting for ITAS, as they will need HPC resources to implement the project “AI System for Pathological Analysis of Adenocarcinoma (PathAI)”, which is funded by the Innovation Fund of Montenegro, and whose implementation is scheduled to begin in February 2025. The project aims to develop an advanced AI system for pathological analysis of adenocarcinoma. It is expected that this innovative system will significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of pathological analysis, thereby reducing the workload of pathologists and improving patient treatment outcomes. The project will require the processing of a large number of high-resolution medical images, for which the use of HPC resources will make their work much easier. It was agreed that after the start of the project, the NCC team will visit Čikom/ITAS again and present in detail the application process for HPC resources.
We scheduled another meeting to discuss applications for HPC resources
The EuroCC2 project team from UoM (Enis Kočan and Božo Krstajić), as part of service activities and interaction with the industry, held a meeting with the management and employees from the top technical leadership of the FiveG group and the NeurobotX company, which specializes in application of AI and VR in the gaming industry and the development of simulation nautical models for training purposes (Ivan Šoć, CEO of the FiveG group; Aleksa Čović, NeurobotX and Marko Šćepanović NeurobotX), on November 11, 2024, at their premises.
We met with FiveG on Nov 11
After the presentation of the services that the NCC of Montenegro can provide to companies within the EuroCC2 project, the current projects of the FiveG company were jointly analyzed, from the aspect of their potential implementation on HPC resources. Following a comprehensive analysis, at least 2 projects were identified that would benefit significantly from being executed on HPC resources. Consequently, we agreed on future collaboration activities aimed at preparing these identified projects for implementation in an HPC environment and their participation in the upcoming conference, which will feature a special event for companies interested in utilizing HPC resources through HPC NCC Montenegro.
We arranged the participation in IT2025 activities and continuation of the collaboration
During the Fall 2024, the NCC team at UDG developed a new training offering aimed at the the use of generative AI, mos specifically at real-life LLM applications and digital transformation. The training was developed based on the communications with students and industry representatives. The initial enrollment in November was over 40 students, where most of them are expected to finish the training by 20 December.
The study of Prompt Engineering represents a cornerstone technique for effective interaction with advanced language models such as GPT-4, LLama and beyond. This course equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to harness the transformative potential of AI technologies, emphasizing innovative, responsible, and industry-specific applications. In an era of digital transformation, where real-time decision-making and intelligent automation shape industries, the demand for high-performance computing (HPC) is critical. By exploring advanced natural language processing (NLP) models, students will not only develop effective querying techniques but also understand the computational requirements and infrastructure needed to implement these solutions at scale.
Unlocking the Power of AI: The Role of High-Performance Computing in Real-Life LLM Applications and Digital Transformation
As large language models become more sophisticated, their computational demands grow exponentially. Applications such as real-time customer interactions, predictive analytics, and decision support in fields like healthcare and education require HPC infrastructure to ensure performance and scalability. This course bridges the gap between theoretical understanding and practical implementation, highlighting how HPC enables the deployment of robust AI solutions, thus driving innovation in the digital age. Whether you’re preparing to lead AI projects in academia or industry, this course provides the essential knowledge to leverage AI technologies responsibly and effectively, positioning you at the forefront of digital transformation.
Course Content Overview (12 Modules)
Introduction to Prompt Engineering – Fundamentals, significance, and applications of prompt structuring.
Understanding AI Models – Overview of how language models process inputs and generate outputs.
Contextual Importance – Strategies to define and provide context for optimal AI performance.
Crafting Effective Prompts – Techniques for prompt structuring, tone control, and style customization.
