LABOUR have been accused of undermining Scotland’s ambition to become a world leader in technology and academic research after the UK Government axed almost £1 billion worth of funding.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said last week that plans for a £800 million supercomputer, which would have been one of only a few in the world, at Edinburgh University would not be taken further.
The university had already spent £31m building a home for the promised exascale supercomputer when funding for the project was announced in October last year.
The ground-breaking supercomputer would have been 50 times faster than any current computers in the UK and could perform a quintillion, a billion billions, calculations a second.
It would have helped researchers test scientific theories and improve products and services in areas such as artificial intelligence, drug discovery, climate change, astrophysics and advanced engineering.
SNP minister Angus Robertson criticised the UK Government’s “shocking” and “shortsighted” U-turn on the plans as he said: “It will simply not be possible for the UK to be a science superpower without such a supercomputer.”
The MSP for Edinburgh Central also said he would be seeking a meeting with First Minister John Swinney and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes to discuss the damage to Scotland’s technology and research ambitions.
Robertson (below) said Labour should reconsider its cuts as the university aims to be Europe’s leading data capital and an international hub for research, development, and innovation as it already has a world-class reputation in those areas.
He said: “It is terrible news that UK Labour is cutting a project for Edinburgh worth nearly £1 billion which would have put the capital in a leading international position.
“It is absolutely shocking, shortsighted and damaging to Edinburgh and Scotland’s economy, education and tech sector as well as any ambitions for the UK to be international leaders where supercomputing is required.”
He added: “The University of Edinburgh has built a world class reputation and was set to drive forward the plans to become Europe’s leading Data Capital and a centre for research, development and innovation.
“They have already shown they are best placed to host the exascale supercomputer. Labour should reconsider their ill-considered cuts.”
According to Edinburgh University’s website, the first phase of installing the supercomputer was expected to begin in 2025.
Professor Peter Mathieson, principal of the university, has also met with the secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology and the secretary of state for Scotland and is continuing talks around the issue.
The DSIT said the money for the computer was promised by the Conservatives but was never allocated in its budget.
AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for AI, also had £500m scrapped last week.
A spokesperson for the DSIT said last week when the news was announced: “We are absolutely committed to building technology infrastructure that delivers growth and opportunity for people across the UK.
“The UK Government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments. This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.
“We have launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan which will identify how we can bolster our computer infrastructure to better suit our needs and consider how AI and other emerging technologies can best support our new Industrial Strategy.”
