Cambridge-1, which manufacturer Nvidia claims is the UK’s most powerful supercomputer, is now operational.

The supercomputer, which cost over £50 million to make, will focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical research.

Cambridge-1 is the 29th most powerful supercomputer in the world according to the US hardware giant and the 3rd most energy efficient.

The supercomputer, which was first announced in October 2020, is set to work on scientific research into a variety of health conditions, such as dementia and multiple sclerosis, as well as genomic sequencing and drug discovery.

Plans have been made for the supercomputer to work on projects with pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, DNA sequencing company Oxford Nanopore Technologies, King’s College London university, and the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

In February 2020, the UK government committed £1.2 billion of funding to allow the Met Office to develop a state-of-the-art supercomputer, likely to be Britain’s most powerful when complete. LINK

The supercomputer, which the Met Office said will be within the top 25 in the world in terms of power, is set to help the UK predict and fight extreme weather.

“The power of artificial intelligence in healthcare will help to speed up diagnosis for patients, improve services such as breast cancer screening, and support the way that we risk assess and prioritise patients according to clinical need,” said Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. “The Cambridge-1 datacentre will enable us to be among the first to benefit from these new AI capabilities – using the very latest technology to benefit our patients, as well as manage precious resources more efficiently.”

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