Union Computer’s Last Gasp :: Charter'97 :: News

There is a probability that the project of the family of supercomputers “SKIF” creation would stop for economical reasons, or at least would be frozen. The three-year program is sponsored by the budget of the “Union State” of Belarus and Russia, and it was planned to allocate about $11 millions for it. But in 2000 the shortage of funds remained, as the team received only 69 per cent of the money planned. And this year in all likelihood they will receive even less.

Creation of supercomputers goes all around the world now, and the developed countries spend lots of money for it. For example, the budget of an analogous American national program is equal almost to 4 billion dollars. Such research has a strategic status. For instance, in the USA export of computers with more than ten billions of operations in a second to the countries of Africa, Asia and the CIS is limited, as a nuclear explosions can be modeled with their help.

The makers of “SKIF” computer hoped to escape a financial deadlock by selling computers, and continue their work on this money. But the military industry and fundamental science, where this computer was to be exploited, are in a dire financial condition. And to use it for the needs of such branches of economy as, e.g. public transport, is too expensive. A standard PC can perform the same tasks effectively. It works much slower, but at the same time it is much cheaper.