Context: Recently, the Fifth BRICS Working Group meeting on High Performance Computing (HPC) and Information Communication Technologies (ICT) was held Under the Science, Technology, and Innovation track.
About

• All five BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, participated.
• This meeting is part of BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Calendar of Activities 2020-21 adopted by all BRICS countries. 
• It emphasized on the importance of this area in view of the emergence of new disciplines like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, machine learning, and their potential applications in the areas of medical sciences, agriculture, earth science modelling and simulation. 

Nation-wise Inputs

• India: It shared the concept note on cooperation amongst the BRICS startups in deep technology in areas of healthcare, agriculture, and education. 
• C-DAC presented India’s initiative of Indigenous development of supercomputers under the National Supercomputing Mission and their applications in drug design to develop and deploy a user-friendly and comprehensive early warning system for flood prediction.
• China: It proposed AI+ HPC+ 5G-based digital twin platforms and an open-source ecosystem for smart manufacturing, precision farming, and precision medicine. 
• Brazil and South Africa: They proposed the flagship project on Digital Earth.

Conclusion

• The BRICS HPC & ICT Working Group provides a platform for researchers from BRICS member countries to discuss and deliberate on mutual interest areas to forge partnerships. 
• It focused on developing deep technology-based solutions for societal challenges such as affordable healthcare, sustainable agriculture, extreme weather events, and weather, and climate modeling etc.

High-performance computing (HPC) 

• It refers to the practice of aggregating computing power in a way that delivers much higher performance than one could get out of a typical desktop computer or workstation in order to solve large problems in science, engineering or business.
• It has the ability to process data and perform complex calculations at high speeds. For example, a laptop or desktop with a 3 GHz processor can perform around 3 billion calculations per second while HPC can perform quadrillions of calculations per second. 

Significance of HPC

• Promotes advancement: It is through data that groundbreaking scientific discoveries are made, game-changing innovations are fueled, and quality of life is improved for billions of people around the globe. HPC is the foundation for scientific, industrial, and societal advancements.
• Process Massive Data: Nowadays organizations need lightning-fast, highly reliable IT infrastructure to process, store, and analyze massive amounts of data. The HPC has the ability to process data in real time.
• Supports technologies: HPC is essential to strengthen technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, 3-D imaging etc.

Applications

• Research labs: HPC is used to help scientists find sources of renewable energy, understand the evolution of our universe, predict and track storms, and create new materials.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning: HPC is used to detect credit card fraud, provide self-guided technical support, teach self-driving vehicles, and improve cancer screening techniques.
• Oil and gas: HPC is used to more accurately identify where to drill for new wells and to help boost production from existing wells.
• Financial services: HPC is used to track real-time stock trends and automate trading.
• Health Sector: HPC is used to help develop cures for diseases like diabetes and cancer and to enable faster, more accurate patient diagnosis.
• Media and entertainment: HPC is used to edit feature films, render mind-blowing special effects, and stream live events around the world.

Road Ahead

• The future of high-performance computers focuses on efficiency, making more with less. The future of HPCs lies in biosciences, climate modeling, geographical data collection, and many other disciplines.
• Research labs will be strengthened by HPCs that assist scientists in their quest to find renewable energy and analyze future and past universe evolutions.
• HPCs can even be used in medical fields to develop cures for diseases and deliver faster and more accurate diagnoses.