Vega is a part of a billion-dollar project that establishes Slovenia as a part of the European Supercomputing Ecosystem. The Vega Project is a joint investment of €17.2 million. It is financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. The Vega supercomputer will enable Slovenian and European scientists to cooperate in large international research projects and give an additional boost to the development of science and the economy. It is an extremely important investment for the Eastern Slovenia region, the whole Slovenia as well as Europe.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Janez Janša delivered the address below.

Director Dr Bošnjak,
European Commission Executive Vice-President Vestager,
Minister Dr Kustec,
Rector Professor Kačič,
Director Jensen,
Project manager Professor Ren,

We are delighted with the fact that Slovenia was put on the European map of supercomputers today. As part of the European project EuroHPC, we welcome the Vega supercomputer, one of the five petascale supercomputers in the EU. Along with three others, they form the European network of supercomputers. I am pleased that the European Union, and with it Slovenia, has been ranked alongside other world superpowers in information technology.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, our compatriot Jurij Vega was widely known for his logarithmic tables and for calculating the mathematical constant pi to an accuracy of 140 decimal places. Today, competitions take place across the world where winners calculate pi to tens of thousands of decimal places.
During the Second World War, Turing's machine performed calculations in 30 seconds that would have taken a person 20 hours. The Vega supercomputer is able to perform ten to the fifteenth power calculations per second and pushes the limits of what is possible to almost unimaginable levels. The words of Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, who said, ‘Those who can imagine anything can create the impossible,’ sound much more convincing today than when they were uttered.

Computers have been a part of my life ever since 1982. Even when we were setting up the first computer micro companies in Slovenia in the mid-1980s, it was clear to me that we were on the threshold of a new technological revolution that would change our way of life. And this in fact happened at a tremendous rate during a single generation.

They say that by breaking the ENIGMA codes, Turing's machines shortened the Second World War by several months if not a year, thus saving countless human lives. During the Slovenian spring, in the process of the democratisation and independence of Slovenia 30 years ago, it was simple personal computers that helped us keep our plans safe and out of the reach of the secret political police.

Today, we are aware of the indirect ways in which Vega supercomputer will additionally and strongly impact on our lives. It will enable scientists to invent new materials and components, it will help them model global phenomena, and develop new medicines and medical therapies in the fight against cancer or other diseases. Furthermore, Vega will provide support to companies, especially those developing the most advanced products in the pharmaceutical, automotive, energy and all other sectors. With this and similar steps, the European Union is resolutely following a path towards strategic autonomy.

A fact particularly emphasised this year is that last year, it was supercomputers that helped develop vaccines and drugs that are effective in treating COVID-19, which Slovenia, Europe and the world are still fighting. With the help of supercomputers, scientists were able to identify a number of new compounds in a short time, a task that would otherwise take incomparably more time. And today, when we are still in the middle of the epidemic, we all know how precious time is for saving lives in times of crisis.

Invaluable simulations run on supercomputers will significantly contribute to greater resilience against cyber attacks. It is by taking appropriate action in the event of pandemics and cyber attacks that we can quickly and effectively respond to crisis situations and challenges of the time that brings all this. I am glad that, following Slovenia’s suggestion, both priorities have already become a reality and are being implemented with great activity and enthusiasm of the European Commission as part of the programme of the current trio of the EU Council presidency, in which Slovenia acts together with Germany and Portugal.

We also point out that all of human history proves that science and technology can serve both good and, unfortunately, bad causes. When we make lightning-fast steps in IT and, above all, artificial intelligence, let this warning from the past always resound. Our motto, however, will always be to serve the good.

Half a millennium ago, the English philosopher Francis Bacon wrote the well-known statement that the sovereignty of man lieth hid in knowledge and that knowledge is power. Today, supercomputers and artificial intelligence are upgrading this claim to the idea that a person’s sovereignty increasingly also lies in their ability to master knowledge, in their mastery of this power, and therefore in their values and their ethics.

Dear Mr Director and everybody else present, let me wish in this spirit all of you who will use the Vega supercomputer every success in your work; may you in your endeavours always use the exceptional potential of new inventions to the benefit of both individuals and all humanity, to the benefit of the good.