After two years to buy the equipment and a year and a half to make Meluxina--a high performance computer, more commonly known as HPC--operational, Luxprovide, under the leadership of David Papiah, is starting the third phase of the project: to approach the economic and research world to bring value to projects around data. This will cover three dimensions: for the benefit of local and international players, whether they are large companies, SMEs or startups; for the mutual benefit of partners who can help the former; and for the benefit of experts who need the supercomputer in terms of computing volumes.

Tailor-made

“Many companies have data at their disposal which they could use as a potential value driver,” explains the former head of Fujitsu for Europe in his first interview. “It’s about processing the data, using it and getting results that will allow you to make more informed decisions, review your processes or resize your business. And this also applies to startups.”

To do this, LuxProvide, with its 25 employees, half of whom are technology experts and other half are developers of commercial offers--numbers that should double in next four years--will be able to structure data, understand the needs of a company or research unit and help it achieve the result it is looking for by taking advantage of the computing capabilities of HPC.

With the ability to execute millions of operations per second, Meluxina, a supercomputer, holds promise for use in multiple industries including pharmaceuticals, space data analysis, and automotive and agricultural sectors.

First partnerships to add value

According to Papiah, recognising that it’s impossible to have complete knowledge about everything, LuxProvide has initiated a quest for partners who can help elevate their projects. The initial partnership they have made public is with Advestis, a French data science company that is highly regarded by financial institutions in France. Advestis is a pure player in this field and is well-suited to meet the demands for streamlined processes and tools in the banking and financial domains.

LuxProvide’s CEO mentions that the company’s next probable partnership will be with a major space agency, as the space sector is a prime example of Luxembourg's diversification, as emphasised by its authorities. Additionally, negotiations with three other partners have already commenced, with the objective of delivering value in a European context where data circulation and protection are becoming increasingly significant. Luxconnect possesses a definite competitive edge here since it’s not associated with American or Chinese infrastructure.

Partly funded by European funds, the company acknowledges its responsibility to promote the development of research projects. To this end, a scientific committee has been established to guide researchers towards utilising Luxembourg’s infrastructure. , a project for constructing a digital twin of the planet, and a European request for automatic translation of the 27 member states’ languages are a few examples of such initiatives.

Proactive monitoring in a fast-moving sector

For Papiah, Luxprovide must also “continue to follow technological developments. Every two years, new technologies arrive that have an impact on data and its processing, and we must be proactive. It is in this spirit that we already have an operational quantum simulator available, for example.”

“You don’t need a ton of data to be able to capitalise on it,” he says, as if to recall the old adage that “only the first step counts.”

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.