The Czech National Competence Centre (NCC Czechia) is the reference and the single point of contact and coordination in the Czech Republic for high-performance computing (HPC), data analysis (HPDA), quantum computing (QC) and other state-of-the-art technologies. The mission of the NCC is to provide comprehensive services at the national level in these areas to end users—particularly from industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, public institutions, and academia. The National Competence Centre in HPC Czechia is represented by IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava. Both the first and second phases of the EuroCC project received financial support from the EuroHPC JU and the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT).
We connect academia, industry, and the public sector with advanced computing know-how, practical support, and opportunities to access top-tier computing infrastructure — both nationally and across Europe.
Empowering Users with Supercomputing Expertise and Access
NCC Czechia supports organisations and individuals in effectively leveraging high-performance computing and related technologies through:
Expert Guidance and Consultations
- Support in identifying suitable HPC, HPDA, quantum solutions and other state-of-the art technologies for specific challenges.
- Strategic advice on how to integrate advanced computing into R&D or business processes.
Access Facilitation
- Assistance with access to national and European HPC infrastructures.
- Navigation of funding opportunities, including EuroHPC calls and national programmes.
Training and Skills Development
- Practical workshops, tailored training sessions, and webinars for different user levels.
- Capacity building in HPC programming, parallelization, data analytics, and quantum computing.
Pilot Collaborations and Technical Support
- Joint activities to test and demonstrate the use of HPC or HPDA and other technologies in real-world scenarios.
- Guidance with code porting, scaling, and performance optimisation.
Networking and Matchmaking
- Connection with academic partners, research infrastructures, and innovation networks.
- Facilitation of cross-sector collaboration and knowledge exchange.
These activities are available to companies, startups, research institutions, and public sector bodies — regardless of their prior experience with advanced computing technologies.
Impact Across Sectors
Since its inception, NCC Czechia—together with its partners—has validated numerous concepts and practical pilots with tangible impacts in both industry and society. Supercomputing and associated technologies have addressed challenges in sectors such as healthcare, mechanical engineering, energy, security, materials development, manufacturing, architecture and civil engineering, biotechnology, environment, and transportation.
The following examples illustrate some of the diverse applications and successes achieved across these fields:
Healthcare and Biomedicine
- HPC-powered analysis of next-generation sequencing data enhanced genetic research and personalized medicine approaches.
- Numerical simulations accelerated the design and optimization of wearable exoskeleton devices.
- Creation of detailed 3D tissue models supported advancements in medical visualization technologies.
Architecture and Construction
- Realistic architectural visualizations leveraging HPC resources improved design accuracy and project presentations.
Industry and Mechanical Engineering
- Numerical simulations of butterfly valve closing dynamics optimized product design and manufacturing efficiency.
- HPC-driven simulations helped enhance the development and performance of paper production machinery.
Energy and Environment
- Collaboration between industry and science led to innovative solutions for flue gas cooling, improving energy utilization.
- Computational modeling contributed to reducing emissions from thermal power devices, supporting cleaner energy production.
- Supercomputer simulations validated novel concepts for energy storage in rotating rings on the ocean surface, advancing renewable energy technologies.
Transportation and Logistics
- Simulations of crowd dynamics improved the design and safety of railway freight cars.
- Numerical modelling enables faster train weighing without an expensive infrastructure.
Public Sector and Security
- Development of predictive crime-fighting tools enhanced prevention and response capabilities.
- System for intelligent identification of air pollution sources.
- Launch of the Vaccination Centre.
Materials Science and Research
- HPC and numerical modeling accelerated the design of novel materials, fostering progress in material science.
- Application of HPC and AI for corrosion protection contributed to the development of more durable industrial materials.
>> Read more in our full success stories.
Outreach, Awareness, and Community Engagement
NCC Czechia is strongly committed to raising awareness and building a broad understanding of advanced computing technologies across business, academia, and the general public. Its communication and dissemination activities include a regularly updated website, expert articles, real-world success stories, printed and digital brochures, a thematic newsletter, and dynamic social media outreach. The centre also organises and contributes to hands-on workshops and training sessions tailored to a range of audiences—from industry professionals to students.
The centre engages with key stakeholders through national platforms such as Innovation Week Czech Republic—the largest event of its kind in the country—as well as public science initiatives like Researchers’ Night. NCC Czechia also participates in numerous professional and educational events throughout the year, including the IT4Innovations User Day and the expert conference HPCSE (High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering). In addition, it delivers tailored lectures and presentations for companies, universities, and organisations interested in applying high-performance computing in practice.
As part of its recent initiatives, NCC Czechia supported the creation of the Atlas of Quantum Computing Applications. The publication highlights potential use cases and helps bring quantum technologies closer to practical adoption.
IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Centre
IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava is a leading research, development, and innovation centre active in the fields of High-Performance Computing (HPC), Data Analysis (HPDA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Quantum Computing (QC) and their application to other scientific fields, industry, and society. IT4Innovations operates the most powerful supercomputing systems in the Czech Republic, provided to Czech and foreign research teams from academia and industry. Together with the CESNET and CERIT-SC institutions, IT4Innovations constitutes e-INFRA CZ, a strategic research infrastructure of the Czech Republic.
Since 2013, IT4Innovations has been providing state-of-the-art supercomputing technologies and services to both Czech and foreign research teams from academia and the private sector to increase the competitiveness and innovativeness of Czech science and industry.
At present, IT4Innovations runs two supercomputers: the supercomputer Karolina (15.7 PFlop/s, installed in the summer of 2021), Barbora (849 TFlop/s, installed in the autumn of 2019), and the specialised NVIDIA DGX-2 system for artificial intelligence computation, (130 TFlop/s and 2 PFlop/s in AI, installed in the spring of 2019). Apart from the supercomputers operated at IT4Innovations, Czech research communities also have access to the LUMI supercomputer thanks to IT4Innovations' membership in the LUMI consortium. In 2024 a contract has been signed for the delivery of the VLQ quantum computer which will be put into operation in 2025.
IT4Innovations is dedicated to research excellence in High Performance Computing (HPC), Data Analytics (HPDA), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing (QC). IT4Innovations' core research areas are big data processing and analysis, machine learning, development of parallel scalable algorithms and algorithms for quantum computers and simulators, solving challenging engineering problems, advanced visualization, virtual reality, modeling for nanotechnology, and material design.
IT4Innovations also strongly focuses on cooperation with industrial enterprises, earning IT4Innovation the status of the Digital Innovation Hub registered at the European Commission level and is a member of DIHnet EU, the European network of digital innovation hubs. In this context, IT4Innovations has developed a partnership with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (part of VSB-TUO), and the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre Ostrava and the European Digital Innovation Hub Ostrava was established.
