Lords Digital Skills Committee visits the Hartree Centre
30 October 2014
As part of its inquiry into digital skills and the competitiveness of the UK, the Committee went on a tour of the Hartree Centre in Warrington.
The purpose of the visit was for Committee Members to learn more about high performance computers (or 'supercomputers') and see their application in real life. The Committee had also previously received evidence on the importance of 'Big Data' and the future need for data technicians.
The Hartree Centre uses Big Data to tackle complex real-world problems. It was also an opportunity for the Committee to see how such digital technology can be applied to better support UK businesses and improve our global competitiveness.
Commenting on the visit, the Committee’s Chair, Baroness Morgan of Huyton, said:
"The expertise and cutting edge technology at the Hartree Centre were hugely impressive. It demonstrated to us the real life applications of digital technologies which need to drive UK competitiveness.
The strength of the synergies between science and technology, industry and academia were also apparent to us. The Daresbury campus is a great example of the strength of regional hubs."
Cliff Brereton, Hartree Centre Director, said:
"We were able to show the Committee how our powerful computers can be programmed to help to solve complex problems; from simulating how a cancer drug interacts with human cells to help industry develop more effective drugs, to predicting how ingredients in products interact with each other, something which is shaving months off the development of breakthrough, innovative products.
Although the Committee Members saw just a snapshot of what we do, I hope they left wanting to promote our work more widely."
The visit to the Hartree Centre took place on Wednesday 22 October.