High Performance Computing Facility Opening: NIWA, Greta Point

The launch of this IBM p575 POWER6 supercomputer is not just about a machine. It is about NIWA's commitment to science. It is also about this Government's commitment to building our science and innovation ecosystem as a central foundation of New Zealand's future direction.

The performance of this new computer provides an exponential improvement on the existing Cray machine. The range and complexity of the work that can be done around climate science and forecast modelling will deepen our knowledge, enabling a much more fine grained level of model, both in area and in time.

This is critical work. Everyone here knows first-hand the level of public interest in climate change issues. Wherever you stand on the subject, the international policy response is perhaps the biggest single challenge facing governments the world over.

NIWA's job is to give us the best possible science to help us understand these issues. There is no hidden agenda. The commissioning of the IBM p575 POWER6 will boost that science, and provide a stronger evidence base for decision-making.

Climate science is not just of global interest. Our economy relies on the land and the sea. Any profound changes to what will grow and how it will grow are of fundamental importance.

NIWA's work feeds across to the other CRIs and our broader science system. It gives them warning of the direction research needs to go in, in order to safeguard our primary industry production.

NIWA has put up over $12 million of its own money to install this machine. This is the sort of investment we expect the CRIs to make to improve science capability.

The reforms we have made in the science sector will result in more stable funding. This allows CRIs to make long-term decisions around new capabilities.

Science infrastructure is another priority for this Government. We are developing a long-term infrastructure plan. Individual institutions have made very substantial investments in their own capital intensive infrastructure.

Our plan will develop effective support for collaboration across institutions. A piece of physical equipment, such as the IBM p575 POWER6, has to be based somewhere.

We will establish better mechanisms to allow shared benefits and shared costs. This will encourage lead institutions to invest, and other institutions to be involved right from the start.

The challenge is meeting the ongoing costs, including depreciation. The up-front capital is sometimes the easiest part. This is because the cost is known, and the result can be seen.

Less obvious is the cost of running a machine like the IBM p575 POWER6. The electricity bills alone must be interesting!

More important are the people who will be needed to make use of the wealth of information that will be generated. There is no point in having masses of information if it cannot be analysed, interpreted and put to best use.

Finally, there is the depreciation. Magnificent though the IBM p575 POWER6 is today, there is nothing surer that in 10 years it will be half-way to the museum.

All of these issues will be dealt with as part of our infrastructure strategy. I see it as a true partnership between CRIs, universities and government. We all have a role to play.

In this year's Budget we set aside $44 million over the next four years to support our infrastructure policy. In addition we have committed a further $16 million of capital next year to increase the capacity of the KAREN network. This is vital to fully utilising the IBM p575 POWER6 capabilities.

This is the beginning, not the end. Our science infrastructure is every bit as important as our roads, electricity and communications networks.

This Government has made it clear that science is at the heart of its agenda. The Prime Minister repeated this theme last weekend at the National Party Conference. The applause both he and I got when we talked about what we have done in science and innovation confirmed that this is something the New Zealand public backs whole-heartedly.

Enough policy. Now is the time to hit the go button and let the IBM p575 POWER6 loose on the big questions in New Zealand's climate future. This day marks another successful step in NIWA's long-term strategy.