Once deployed, INNOVATE will provide advanced supercomputing capabilities tailored to meet the requirements of European industry, with a particular focus on security, confidentiality, data integrity and operational flexibility.
Hosted by CINECA at the DAMA Tecnopolo in Bologna and operated by the INNOVATE Consortium, the new system will feature a flexible architecture combining dedicated CPU and GPU resources optimised for AI training and inference, visualisation, large-scale simulation and emerging industrial services.
INNOVATE will support a broad range of applications including digital twins, large language model tuning and deployment, big data analytics, advanced manufacturing, robotics and automation, personalised healthcare, climate and weather modelling, supply-chain optimisation and high-fidelity virtual prototyping, among others.
As the first EuroHPC supercomputer dedicated to industrial applications, INNOVATE will strengthen Europe’s capacity to run secure, high-value industrial workloads while helping European enterprises enhance competitiveness, expand know-how and develop advanced digital and computational skills.
The deadline to submit a tender is 8 September 2026, 17:00 CET.
More Details
The INNOVATE project, coordinated by CINECA and supported by INNOVATE Consortium was selected to design, host and operate the industrial supercomputer, bringing together expertise from across Italy’s industrial and innovation ecosystem. The consortium includes Almawave S.p.A., Autostrade per l’Italia S.p.A., BI-REX - Big Data Innovation & Research Excellence, Fondazione ICSC – Italian Research Center on High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, Fondazione IFAB – International Foundation Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development, SNAM S.p.A. and Unipol Assicurazioni S.p.A., under the coordination of Fondazione ICSC as representative of the private parties and CINECA as Hosting Entity.
The total budget of the project is EUR 11,615,385.00, of which the EU contributes EUR 4,065,385 through the Digital Europe Programme. The remaining budget is co-funded by the industrial partners of the INNOVATE consortium.
More details can be found on this dedicated webpage of the EU Funding & Tenders portal.
Background Information
The EuroHPC JU is a legal and funding entity that brings together the European Union and participating countries to coordinate efforts and pool resources with the objective of making Europe a world leader in supercomputing.
To equip Europe with a cutting-edge supercomputing infrastructure, the EuroHPC JU has already procured 12 supercomputers, distributed across Europe. These include JUPITER in Germany and Alice Recoque in France, Europe’s first exascale systems.
Currently, the EuroHPC JU is also overseeing the implementation of 19 AI factories (AIF) across Europe, including the IT4LIA AI Factory, whose procurement contract has been signed in April 2026. These AI Factories are complemented by 13 AI Factory Antennas, to offer free, customised support to SMEs and startups. European scientists and users from the public sector and industry can benefit from EuroHPC supercomputers via the EuroHPC Access Calls no matter where in Europe they are located. The goal of these calls is to advance science and support the development of applications with industrial, scientific, and societal relevance for Europe.
In June 2026, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking inaugurated LISA, the Leonardo Improved Supercomputing Architecture partition, in Bologna, Italy.
Additionally, the EuroHPC JU is deploying a European Quantum Computing infrastructure, integrating diverse European quantum computing technologies with existing supercomputers.
The EuroHPC JU also funds research and innovation projects to develop a full European supercomputing supply chain. This includes processors and software, applications to be run on these supercomputers, and know-how to develop strong European HPC expertise.
With the recent adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2026/150, the EuroHPC JU’s mandate has been expanded with new action pillars dedicated to the deployment of AI Gigafactories across Europe and the advancement of quantum technologies.
- Publication date
- 16 July 2026
- Author
- European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking