Editorial - 21-1

Canada's ability to compete in the high-stakes world of R&D has been dramatically enhanced with a major cash infusion into high performance computing (HPC). With the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) putting $78 million on the table, HPC researchers from a wide range of disciplines will see $150 million flow into seven regional centres.

The HPC community has developed a powerful long-range plan (LRP) designed to keep Canadian researchers competitive internationally, with mid-range computing facilities identified as the most pressing need. The CFI funding, augmented by $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, satisfies this immediate need. But there are others.

The LRP recommends funding for IMPACT Canada, an administrative body that will coordinate facilities, liaise with federal granting agencies and promote international collaboration. It also stresses the need for a high-end computing facility, a critical resource for users requiring massive amounts of computing power. Although the combined price tag for these proposals is relatively modest (less than $25 million a year), both remain unfunded.

It's time the federal government got wise to the importance of HPC. In the past 20 years, the way researchers work has been utterly transformed, with computing power now pervasive in many important fields. Scientists have better things to do than navigate the labyrinth of federal funding agency regulations — things like conducting research. The government should not delay and indicate its willingness to fund the complete HPC LRP, not just one piece of it.