Last week, we brought together management and experts of some of Europe’s largest public and private sector research centers, to share with them our vision that Europe needs to be much more ambitious in investing in computing power and creating a strong industry in the eminently strategic field of High-Performance Computing (HPC). Because in the near future not only industry but also services and the public sector will really need phenomenal amounts of computing power. As you know, Bull is playing a central role in European research projects, and is heavily involved in the System@tic world-class competitiveness cluster (pôle de compétitivité), with our FAME2 project aimed at developing the supercomputers for the decade to come: the successors to the CEA’s TERA-10, that will enable the pace of innovation to accelerate in areas as diverse as manufacturing industry, healthcare and climatic research, to design the next generation of airplanes, simulate the human body or even anticipate cyclones.

In the weeks ahead, we will be meeting with politicians and public-sector decision-makers at the World eGov Forum in Paris. This will give us a great opportunity to discuss issues of competitiveness and national and regional sovereignty with them, and the role that IT-enabled tools will play.

Thank you again for taking the time to read Bull Direct. I hope that in doing so, you are increasingly convinced that Bull is the best alternative and the safest pair of hands for your most innovative and complex projects, such as those we showcase in this issue for the telecoms operator Maroc Connect, the citizens’ card in the Polish town of Rybnik or the Bulgarian Health Ministry.

Didier Lamouche
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer