Mexico has signed a collaboration agreement with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which will allow Mexican scientists to access its facilities starting in January. There, they will be able to process data related to Mexico that can help improve public policies in areas such as meteorology to prevent the impacts of natural disasters, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced.
During the presidential press conference, the agreement was signed and, at the same time, it was announced that next week the Mexican project for the largest supercomputer in Latin America will be officially presented. This initiative is part of the national policy to fulfill the administration’s commitment to make Mexico a scientific powerhouse. Having this tool to process millions of data points and improve public policy is fundamental to strengthening national sovereignty, said the president.
Rosaura Ruiz, head of the Ministry of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation, explained that the agreement encompasses scientific and technological research, specialized human-resource training, technology transfer and innovation, and the development of capacities in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.
Ruiz noted that the partnership with the Spanish center includes the exchange of knowledge, best management practices, and the operation and sustainability of high-performance computing infrastructure specialized in artificial intelligence.
Sheinbaum emphasized that the agreement with the Barcelona center — home to one of the world’s 10 most powerful supercomputers — will allow Mexico to begin processing massive datasets swiftly while the Mexican supercomputer project is completed.
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The president highlighted the importance of developing a national data center that serves the people, the country’s development, scientific research, and both federal and state governments. She added that private companies that wish to develop specific projects could also use its services. “It is important that there be a public center — that the Mexican state, beyond the current government, and the scientific community — have access to a computer that strengthens the country’s development.”
Mateo Valero, director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, said that developing data-processing models using the supercomputer has enabled companies to design more effective strategies, particularly in oil extraction, significantly boosting economic returns.
“In these 20 years that the center has operated — from the first MareNostrum model to the current MareNostrum 5 — we have attracted 600 million euros from competitive companies. When they come, it’s because our work helps them earn much more money. The clearest example was Repsol, whom we helped determine where to drill in complex environments like the Gulf of Mexico; they earned hundreds of millions of euros.”
With Mexico specifically, the center developed a highly precise model predicting the potential impact of an earthquake, a project that earned them an international award.