Supercomputing and the development of High Performance Computing (HPC) is an area that fascinates me. Over the past few years I've worked on a number of projects in the Research and Education (R&E) space that focus on sharing enormous amounts of data processing power on a global scale. These networks use this processing power to develop applications that are addressing some of humankind's most critical needs.
Yet what would happen if access to this type of processing power were opened up? What if it was democratized to the point that it’s available to a mass audience? How would this impact upon our society and our future? These are some of the questions asked in a recent Gigaom article that demands entrepreneurs and technologists to think bigger. To look beyond the continued development of lifestyle and gaming applications and assess how they can use their talents and the considerable advancements in technology to drive humanity forward.
Clearly these are enormous questions, but I can't help but think of the possibilities here. One need only look at Amazon's HPC-as-a-Service platform to see some of the opportunities available. Let me expand on this. Until now, access to this type of processing power has been available only to government agencies, R&E bodies, pharmaceutical companies and other such well-funded organisations. With Amazon's offering, HPC becomes an increasingly mainstream proposition. Sure, $1,000 per hour is not quite within the reach of everyone, but for startup companies or smaller organisations that wish to access this type of computing power there's now a real opportunity to do so.
What's clear is that we need this type of innovation and liberalization of technology. If we are to start answering questions critical to the development of our world we need platforms such as Amazon's HPC service. It's only through the democratization of technology that we can achieve true advancement. However, this is reflected throughout the technology ecosystem. One need only look at the drive for universal broadband access or the One Laptop per Child initiative to see how critical it is to make technology available to all, to ensure that every society has the tools they need to improve.
Although I’ve talked on a global scale above, it’s also important to think about how technology access impacts upon the local environment. I remember a fascinating piece I read some time ago on how Chinese farmers are using mobile telephones to develop a network of information that provides advanced weather warnings, suggestions on how to improve crop yields, etc. It’s this type of democratization of technology and data that are critical to the world’s development.
Do you believe that technology and data democratization are important? Is greater access to processing power critical? Have you tried Amazon’s HPC services? If so, how has it impacted upon your business? Let me know what you think on this.