From 2011 until 2018, IBM Research Zurich, Switzerland, has collaborated with ASTRON, the Dutch scientific instituter for radio astronomy. In February 2012, the collaboration formally kicked off as the DOME Project. It involved co-ordinated research into computing of the future (e.g. post-Moore’s Law, post-Von Neumann) new computational technology, low-energy computing and conducting, and the transport of massive amounts of data by using nano-photonics.
See: technical abstract
From 2011 until 2018, IBM Research Zurich, Switzerland, has collaborated with ASTRON, the Dutch scientific institute for radio astronomy. In February 2012, the collaboration formally kicked off as the DOME Project. It involved co-ordinated research into new (post-Moore’s Law/post-Von Neumann) computational technology, low-energy computing and conducting, and the transport of massive amounts of data by using nano-photonics.
The dot on the horizon was the future Square Kilometre Array, the radio telescope currently being built in South Africa and Australia. It will not work without fundamentally different handling of data processing, transport and energy consumption for all computations needed. The quantities of data it will generate (more than the entire internet traffic worldwide on a daily basis) would simply be too large and the electricity bill would become unaffordable if we could only use existing techniques and architectures.
Forty million euros have been invested in DOME by partners IBM Research Zurich and ASTRON – formally accounted for to the contributing governments. Governments have contributed another twenty million euros (five million euros from the province of Drenthe and fifteen million euros from the national government). The Dutch organization for scientific research, NWO, has also launched a ‘Big Bang, Big Data’ call for which academics could submit their proposals (NWO budget €1,170,000). IBM provided private co-financing and ASTRON academic co-financing. The initial DOME investment (preparation time from January 2011 to 1 February 2012) was cash out a million euros - upfront sunk costs.
In 2018, DOME was accounted for to the province of Drenthe and the national government, the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate, at a total spending of forty million euros. This was about seven million euros over the initial budget - meaning that DOME has generated larger research investments from the partners, due to the high quality of the overall collaboration. What’s relevant to mention is that IBM (following a method approved by its auditor PwC) has contributed in addition approximately the same amount’s worth of IP. Collaborations like these generate more private investment if they are large enough to really gain traction.
Between 2012 and 2018 no fewer than sixty different companies and institutions joined the DOME Users Platform. Authorities felt this demonstrated the way in which DOME became anchored in society – see the speech below held by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs at a DOME symposium in 2016.
The board of DOME consisted of:
Alexander Brink MSc BA, chair and secretary (statutorily on behalf of IBM Corporation)
Dr. Marco de Vos for ASTRON
Dr. Evangelos Eleftheriou, IBM Fellow, for IBM Research
Its Scientific Directors were:
Prof. Dr. Ir. Ton Engbersen for IBM Research in Zürich
Dr. Albert-Jan Boonstra for ASTRON
