South Korea’s supercomputer is too behind to lead the nation’s future tech industry, market local watchers said.
While supercomputers are being used by global firms to develop new products and services in other nations, South Korea’s only supercomputer Tachyon Ⅱ doesn't seem to be well utilized. Its adoption in the private industry stands at only 10 percent, accoring to the state-run Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
Computing speed of Tachyon Ⅱ run by KISTI was once ranked 14th globally when it was first adopted in 2009. Since then, the ranking continued to drop to 107th in 2013. Last year, it fell out of the world’s top 200 list. Meanwhile, Korea’s neighboring countries Japan and China topped the list in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
South Korea currently has four supercomputers. Three are used for weather forecast by the Korea Meteorological Administration and only Tachyon Ⅱ can be rented by the private industry. However, since there is only one available, it takes too long for business firms to wait to borrow it.
“The use of Tachyon Ⅱ is already fully booked by colleges and government agencies. So, there is little chance for the private industry to utilize it” said an official from the KISTI.
Market watchers have voiced that the government should invest more in adopting supercomputers and improving their performance in a bid to raise the nation’s technology competitiveness.
By Lee Kyung-ho