Professional Services Make Up a Sizable Portion of Overall HPC Budgets

In January of 2023, U.S. and European Union government representatives signed an administrative agreement that would bring artificial intelligence (AI) experts together to collaborate and advance AI research, compute technology, and related privacy and data protection elements. This agreement represents a step towards addressing the goals enumerated in the recent U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TCC) commitment penned in December of 2022. The effort emphasizes responsible advancement and use of AI "to address major global challenges" in five key areas: Extreme Weather and Climate Forecasting, Emergency Response Management, Health and Medicine Improvements, Electric Grid Optimization, and Agriculture Optimization.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Microsoft have entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), formalizing NOAA's commitment to using Microsoft Azure cloud computing resources in the pursuit of NOAA's mission to build a Climate[1]Ready Nation by 2030. Several initiatives are envisioned whereby NOAA scientists and engineers will work with Microsoft experts to leverage Azure's machine learning and HPC capabilities: ▪ Fast-tracking innovative contributions to NOAA Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) earth systems modeling and research ▪ Applying machine learning capabilities to improve models supporting air quality, smoke, and particulate pollution forecasts, as well as relevant NOAA climate models ▪ Accelerating NOAA Fisheries' survey and observations data collection and management ▪ Creating new ocean observations cataloging efforts ▪ Designing resilient and accessible weather modeling and forecasting that can incorporate external data sources with NOAA enterprise data