University of Iowa Vice President for Research and Economic Development Daniel A. Reed is playing a key role in shaping the United States government’s plans for developing and deploying exascale technology by 2023.

Reed chairs a subcommittee of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advising Committee (ASCAC). The group was charged with reviewing an exascale technology plan drafted by DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

ASCAC, of which Reed is also a member, has been tasked by DOE and NNSA to review the “conceptual design for the Exascale Computing Initiative” and to deliver a report by September.

Exascale refers to computing systems capable of at least one exaFLOPS, or a billion billion (a quintillion, or 10 to the 18th power) calculations per second.

To reach that goal would require a hundred-fold increase in sustained performance over current computing capabilities, but the payoff would be enormous. Achieving that rate of processing power and sophistication, and developing the necessary infrastructure to back it up, could lead to enormous advancements in basic research, engineering, earth science, biology materials science, energy issues, and national security.

The subcommittee report was issued a day before President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a National Strategic Computing Initiative on July 29. The initiative seeks to create a cohesive, multi-agency strategic vision and federal investment strategy in high-performance computing.

Read more at the OVPRED website.