Non-US Issues in Supercomputing

Most machines near the top of the top500 list are operated by U.S. companies and the U.S. government. Furthermore, most of these machines are built by U.S. companies such as Cray, IBM, SGI, HP, etc. Supercomputing conferences often seem dedicated to solve problems that are important to the U.S. and specific to the machine types, number, and sizes predominant in the U.S.

The question for this panel is what impact this situation has on non-U.S. sites. There might be advantages, such as the U.S. bearing much of the cost of fundamental research and
early prototypes. But there might be disadvantages too; e.g., export control restrictions, near-monopoly pricing and customer support, etc.

In this panel we will hear the views from representatives from Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland. After four brief presentations we will open the floor for discussions, questions, and answers.

Panel Chairs: Prof. Pierre Kuonen, EIA-FR, Switzerland and Dr. Rolf Riesen, SNL, USA
Questions for Panelists:

1. What are the 3 most important non-US issues in Supercomputing?
2. What makes them different from those in the US?
3. How do you address these issues?
4. Is there any generality for us all?