Anas Sarwar visits site of ‘incredible’ £750m supercomputer near Edinburgh

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has visited the site of the UK’s next supercomputer near Edinburgh.  

The £750m project is being funded by the UK Government and should be operational by 2027. 

Located in Penicuik and hosted by the University of Edinburgh, the supercomputer will take over from ARCHER2, also hosted at the site, as the fastest computer in the UK. 

“I think it's an incredible facility,” said Sarwar. “We're going to go around and hear more about the amazing work that's been done here, the huge economic opportunities that come from this site and the obviously significant investment from a UK Labour government.” 

Nestled between the trees of the Bush Estate and the hills that surround Edinburgh, the Advanced Computing Facility (ACF) is operated by the EPCC, formerly the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, which has focused its research on high performance computing since 1982. 

“Supercomputers always get faster,” said Professor Mark Parsons, the EPCC’s director. “This computer is going to go so much faster than ARCHER2, it should be 50 times faster. But the other thing is, it's not just about the speed of computation, it's also about the scale. The computer will have at least twice as much memory than ARCHER2, so it'll be able to do much bigger, more difficult problems.” 

Within the ACF’s walls sit rows upon rows of processers, cooled by a vast system of tubes and pipes, to allow the supercomputers housed on site to run huge simulations on everything from engine performance to wind turbine efficiency. 

“I think this is a really important project in and of itself and that’s why it's right that it's supported,” said Sarwar. “But I think the broader piece of work that we need is around how the digital innovation and revolution in the country goes beyond just this project. It’s how do we have a skills system that meets the challenges and the opportunities of the future.” 

A recent warning by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) said that the public “faces significant disadvantage and increasing inequality,” if the digital inequality and education gap is not closed in Scotland.  

The warning comes after a damning report from Audit Scotland last year that said some people’s human rights could be at risk if measures are not taken to close the inequality gap. It found that nearly 15 per cent of adults lacked the necessary skills to use everyday tech like smartphones and computers, with only 31 per cent of households in Scotland earning under £10,000 having access to the internet.  

“At the centre of government there has been Audit Scotland report after Audit Scotland report that has said that when it comes to digital and AI, the government doesn't have the right skills mix,” said Sarwar. “So how do we fix that at the centre to make sure we're getting the right people in with the right skills, driving at the heart of government. Not just that innovation in the private sector but also driving that innovation in the public sector as we reform our public services. So that's going to take a joined-up approach and it's going to be a key part of our commitments going into the election next year.” 

When the supercomputer comes online in 2027, it will be one of the most powerful devices in the world. Inside the computer will contain between 8-12,000 GPUs and be capable of performing tasks that far exceed the capabilities of supercomputers even ten years ago. It will be the centrepiece of a UK-wide scheme, announced by the UK Government and costing £1bn, that should increase the country’s computing capacity by 20-fold in the next five years.  

In comparison, China has announced a plan to invest one trillion yuan (£105bn) into a government-backed fund focused on increasing the country's global competitiveness in AI, quantum computing and emerging technologies. 

“If we are going to see the large-scale innovation that we need and the revolution that we need, then that's going to require more than just government investment,” said Sarwar. “It's going to require partnership with universities and research hubs to make those innovations and those investments. But it's also going to require investments from the private sector too. We have got to attract and foreign direct investment. So, all of those have to come together to maximise the opportunities if we are going to realise that ambition.”