Experts from SRCE, representing the Croatian High-Performance Computing Competence Centre, took part in the All Hands Meeting held in Tallinn, Estonia, from 23 to 25 September 2025. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together representatives of the 33 national HPC Competence Centres (NCCs) from the EuroCC2 and EuroCC4SEE projects with the Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and the CASTIEL project to discuss sustainability as well as future joint actions and plans. The workshops and presentations focused on preparing the next phase of the EuroCC 3 project and planning the long-term sustainability of the HPC Competence Centre network.
Participants contributed to shaping the further development of the new central information hub hpc-portal.eu, which will aggregate news from all participating countries and provide an overview of HPC, HPDA and AI-related services. A special role is assigned to the Service Hub, while national competence centres, including the HR HPC CC, continue to support users with their current needs.
Plans for the CASTIEL 3 project were also presented. Together with EuroCC 3, it is expected to start in April 2026. Future collaboration with the EVITA – EuroHPC Virtual Training Academy project was also highlighted; its goal is to develop a standardised European framework for professional training in the field of HPC and to produce advanced educational materials that will be openly accessible.
At the meeting of communication champions, several AI tools were presented that significantly facilitate and speed up daily communication tasks – from writing and photo editing to video production. Highlighted tools included:
- Canva – for creating images, videos, infographics and posters
- Flourish.studio – for creating charts, maps and interactive content without coding
- Napkin.ai – for converting text into visual representations
- MotionArray – a text-to-speech generator for professional video narration
Open dialogue was encouraged throughout the sessions, both through live questions and via online channels such as Webex chat and Slido.com. This approach enabled proactive discussions on project challenges, potential future obstacles and the exchange of inspiring improvement ideas across all activities.
Throughout all three days of the All Hands Meeting, the HR HPC CC (NCC Croatia) poster was displayed alongside posters from other national competence centres, showcasing their key achievements and facilitating direct exchange of knowledge and experience in providing specialised services in HPC, HPDA and AI.
Thanks to the hospitality of the Estonian Competence Centre and the HPC Centre of the University of Tartu, more than 100 participants had the opportunity to discover Estonia’s capital city, its culture, entrepreneurial and scientific achievements and the local way of life and work.
*EuroCC 2 and EuroCC4SEE are funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) under Grant Agreements No 101101903 and No 101191697. EuroHPC JU receives support from the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme and from Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Norway, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This material was created as part of the CASTIEL 2 project. This project is funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) under Grant Agreement No 101102047. EuroHPC JU receives support from the European Union’s Digital Europe Programme and from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Austria and Estonia.
