“This supercomputer will play a very important role in enabling ASEAN countries to conduct research in a wide range of fields including climate change response and disaster management, development of new bio-pharmaceuticals and new materials, and artificial intelligence (AI).”

At the BRIN data center in Bogor, Indonesia, visited on the 7th (local time). After a one-hour drive south from the capital Jakarta, the high-performance computing (HPC) system, established with a contribution of USD 10 million (about KRW 14.1 billion) from the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund, was undergoing test operations with a deep, resonant sound. Budi Purawara, Director of the BRIN Electronics and Informatics Research Organization, expressed strong expectations that the HPC, which will go into full operation from the end of this month, will significantly contribute to the advancement of science and technology in the 11 ASEAN member states, extending beyond Indonesia.

● Expanding ODA into cutting-edge physical infrastructure

This project to build an HPC infrastructure for ASEAN and support its utilization and capacity building has been promoted as part of the “Korea-ASEAN Digital Innovation Flagship (KADIF) Project,” a deliverable of the Korea-ASEAN Summit in September 2023. Led by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), the HPC, whose installation was completed this year, has a performance of 4.2 PF (petaflops), capable of 4,200 trillion calculations per second. In June this year, it was officially listed 435th among the world’s 500 most powerful supercomputers, joining the ranks of global supercomputers.

Given that Korea’s official development assistance (ODA) projects have so far largely focused on areas such as education, health, and medical services, this project is being evaluated as highly significant for establishing cutting-edge physical infrastructure. In addition, as only Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam among ASEAN countries possess supercomputers, the project is drawing attention for its potential to help narrow the digital divide among ASEAN member states.

● “Strengthening cooperation that leverages Korea’s strengths”

With a population of 700 million, ranking third in the world, and an economy that ranks fifth in size, ASEAN is a region where the strategic interests of major global powers are heavily concentrated. Fully aware of this, ASEAN seeks to build a community resilient to external environmental changes by forming partnerships with a diverse range of countries rather than extending its hand to just one. Founded in 1967 and approaching its 60th anniversary, ASEAN expanded to 11 member states last year by admitting Timor-Leste as a new member.

The HPC project, which recently even held a separate briefing session in response to a flood of requests from other ASEAN countries ahead of the full-scale operation of the Indonesian HPC, is cited as a project that clearly reflects the direction of Korea-ASEAN cooperation. Lee Cheol, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN, stated, “In ASEAN, where Japan has traditionally had strong influence and where we must now also compete with the huge wave of China, we plan to continue strengthening bonds and cooperation through projects like the HPC initiative that leverage Korea’s strengths.”

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