With an aim to frame a collaborative working group to boost high-performance computing’s (HPC) growth in India, IBM and the ministry of electronics and IT-backed Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) teamed up through a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Through the HPC working group, both parties share a goal of solving areas such as skill development, competency building, and ecosystem building in HPC design research over the entire technological stack for processor development.

The initiatives will contain workshops for capacity training, codevelopment and innovation support, and advice for new businesses.

With IBM's Power processor among startups, MSMEs, and research and academic institutions, the two parties are said to render their aid in HPC applications.

Currently, the working group is set on the lookout for partners to develop competitive domestic processors based on the IBM Power architecture, which is known for its ability to handle mission-critical and data-intensive workloads.

Minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship and electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “We believe that the future is not only about manufacturing semiconductors but about designing chips and IPs for all industries. We are doubling down on a strategy that includes RISC V and IBM’s Power—these two families will be the Indian families of semiconductors around which we will build multiple applications—microprocessors, IoT among others."

He added that semiconductors are changing how all industries operate and reimagining how conventional architecture is being designed and used, and that India is working to become a semiconductor hub of the world.

Sandip Patel, managing director, IBM India and South Asia said, “As we accelerate the adoption of technologies like AI, the demand for HPC will grow significantly as most HPC systems are created with these workloads in mind. This presents a great opportunity for our country to be among the leaders in this space – provided there are sufficient resources and skills available to scale the industry.”

He continued, saying that the partnership is the next phase in the company's ongoing commitment to use these technologies to support India's economic growth and digital transformation by fostering a favorable environment.