PROJECT ROUND-UP

FRANCE GERMANY

France has significantly boosted its AI research and development capabilities with the fourth extension of the Jean Zay supercomputer. Hosted and operated by CNRS’ s IDRIS, this expansion has quadrupled its computing power, making it one of the most powerful and utilised supercomputers in France and Europe for AI. This project directly supports thousands of scientific and industrial applications, particularly in large language models, multimodal computing, biomedical research, and climate science. For CIOs, it signifies France’ s commitment to providing cutting-edge infrastructure for advanced AI development, serving as a central hub for the upcoming European project AI Factory France and offering critical resources for both academic and industrial researchers. This investment underlines France’ s strategy to enhance its national and European leadership in artificial intelligence.

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein has recently made headlines for its ambitious move to replace proprietary software with open-source alternatives across its government IT infrastructure. This includes replacing Microsoft SharePoint with Nextcloud, and Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex with opensource conferencing systems like Jitsi( with plans for OpenTalk integration). This strategic shift aims to achieve greater digital sovereignty, reduce reliance on major tech vendors and foster a more collaborative and secure IT environment. For CIOs, this project represents a bold commitment to open-source ecosystems, demonstrating how a public sector entity can strategically leverage open-source solutions for critical functions, potentially inspiring similar initiatives across Europe by showcasing a viable path to enhanced control and transparency over their digital infrastructure.

NETHERLANDS SWEDEN

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research( NWO) recently announced funding for three new research projects aimed at strengthening critical Dutch infrastructure. While not a single, massive infrastructure build, these CIO-relevant initiatives focus on crucial aspects of future infrastructure resilience and efficiency. Projects like‘ VIA PRUDENTI’ will develop joint control rooms and frameworks for sustainable infrastructure maintenance through wise collaboration,‘ SPINES’ will create cross-sectoral strategies for shaping infrastructure demand and“ TASICI” will develop tools to address cascading risks in interdependent critical infrastructure systems. These research collaborations, involving universities and key infrastructure operators like Port of Rotterdam, Vitens, ProRail and Rijkswaterstaat, signify a proactive and data-driven approach to future-proofing national digital and physical infrastructure.

The Swedish Energy Agency has announced renewed support for the Swedish Life Cycle Center’ s Innovation Cluster, which began its new phase on June 1, 2025. While not a direct digital infrastructure build, the CIO-relevant project focuses on knowledge transfer, skill development and collaboration across industry, academia, government agencies and SMEs to advance the‘ life cycle perspective’ for a sustainable and robust energy system. For CIOs, this initiative is crucial as it drives the understanding and practical application of data-driven life cycle assessments within the energy and climate transition, impacting IT systems that manage energy consumption, sustainability reporting and smart grid development. It encourages a data-rich environment for innovation, promoting the development of tools and methods for sustainable innovation across various sectors.

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