What if there was another paradigm for next-generation computing? What if this paradigm avoided reliance on massive data centres, with their eyewatering energy demands? What if this paradigm:
- facilitated collaboration and the pooling of existing computing resources?
- avoided the antisocial incentives of the attention economy and surveillance capitalism while allowing users to harness computing power tailored to their needs?
- was based on rightsized infrastructure created in Europe allowing for flexible, sustainable, resilient operation?
Most AI developments emanate from a limited group of companies outside of Europe and take place at breakneck speed. The ripple effects of these continue to spread across the computing ecosystem, with implications for everything from individual careers up to whole industries. As hyperscalers announce massive infrastructure buildouts and AI tools gain increasing functions and autonomy, Europe is left wondering whether it is too late to join the party.
At a time of intense global volatility, the HiPEAC Vision 2026 argues that, rather than blindly copying other countries’ roadmaps, Europe can and should carve out its own path in computing: a trajectory which reflects the European context while supporting the values and culture which are important to European society.
Join the session from14:00 to 16:00.
Key topics
- The next computing paradigm, offering the ability to access services on demand and distribute computations from edge to cloud.
- New frontiers in AI, including the deployment of specialised action models coordinated by an orchestrator.
- Why next-generation hardware should be modular rather than monolithic, reconfigurable rather than static?
- How AI is impacting tools used to create hardware and software? What does this mean both for the skills developers will need in future and for European sovereignty?
- The key issues in securing the next generation of computing systems, from AI in both attack and defence to supply-chain vulnerabilities.
- Why open source is fundamental for the European computing industry? How does it contribute to sustainability and sovereignty?
- How the information technology (IT) sector should tackle the problem of sustainability?
Speakers
- Marc Duranton, Senior Fellow, CEA, Editor in Chief, HiPEAC Vision
- Koen De Bosschere, Professor and Head of the Electronics and Information Systems Department, Ghent University, HiPEAC Coordinator
