This preliminary survey was undertaken by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) at the urging of the C3.ca Association in attempting to quantify the HPC community's needs for its soon-to-be-released Long Range Plan. The Survey points to some clear conclusions.

"The obvious result to me", stated C3.ca Chair, Jacques Lyrette, "is that the Long Range Plan needs to have a strong educational component that C3 can and should set about achieving right away. We should soon be providing cross-Industry presentations towards increasing the awareness and understanding of the critical importance that high performance computing can have on any organisation's bottom line."

In addition, the industry needs to clearly define itself: "The field of high performance computing is quite diverse and, as discovered through the differing views offered by respondents, not consistently defined or agreed upon", stated Kevin Wennekes, CATA's Director, Policy Research and Advocacy. "In almost all cases, the exact definition of HPC was limited to the individual's area of expertise. Many large firms, for example, could not respond directly to the survey questions as they were unable to locate a single, internal source who could speak to the entire range of HPC activities they conduct."

While confronting a unique range of challenges in conducting this survey, including tight timelines, contacting the appropriate sources, and cutting through the secretive nature afforded an area traditionally perceived to provide a company with a competitive edge, the survey did result in sparking interest among key HPC firms towards continuing the initial dialogues resulting from this survey.

"There has been a very positive and proactive response towards taking this initial study further", stated Kevin Wennekes. "Firms such as Bombardier, IBM, and Pratt and Whitney have all expressed a clear desire to sit down with CATA and define a means of furthering the work we have started with this preliminary discovery initiative."

Another key component of the report includes the results around the need for Highly Qualified People (HQP) who possess the skills and knowledge needed to perform HPC functions. A diverse array of companies made this request, acknowledging that the skill requirement cut across all sectors. The momentum generated by this initial dialogue will continue to gather force, predicted CATA President, John Reid.

"The importance of high performance computing in sustaining Canadian competitiveness across all sectors cannot be understated", stated John Reid. "CATA is committed to working with the industry towards developing a community of practice that brings academia, private and public sector players together for the first time. We'll be announcing a major continuation of these efforts in the coming weeks. Organisations interested in participating should contact us immediately to secure their inclusion in this process."