Empowering Ethiopian Universities: Inside EthERNet's High-Performance Computing Journey

In 2019, EthERNet unveiled its High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility, a groundbreaking initiative designed to revolutionize research capabilities across Ethiopia. This state-of-the-art facility was established to cater exclusively to higher education institutions and research centers, providing them with unparalleled access to advanced computing technologies. Just as well, it is meant to be a reference case for advanced ICT services in Ethiopian higher education. Since its inception, EthERNet’s HPC facility has been at the forefront of driving innovation and collaboration, empowering researchers and students alike to push the boundaries of knowledge and discovery. Five years later, we look at the impact that this facility has had on ኢትዮጵያ

EthERNet’s community.

The challenges faced by universities and graduate students, particularly in areas where high performance computing resources are needed, was a strong motivating factor in the establishment of this HPC. Since 2019, twenty universities and institutions have managed to leverage on this resource. This includes Addis Ababa University, Hawassa University, and Jimma University, among others, who have embraced HPC to conduct cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines, including computational biology, climate modelling, materials science, and physics. Some of the universities are now able to offer courses and workshops on parallel computing, which provides valuable opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience.

• Furthermore, HPC provides universities with essential capabilities for conducting simulations, modelling complex systems, and analysing large datasets. With the increasing volume and complexity of data, the HPC is essential for handling data intensive applications such as machine learning, AI, big data analytics, and fluid dynamics.

Assistant Professor Gamachis Sakata Gurmesa, from Mattu University, shares his journey of leveraging EthERNet’s HPC resources to advance his research in Condensed Mattert