Third supercomputer worth EUR 36 million in Serbia by year-end – Appointments for passports and ID cards with AI help to be made available from autumn

Serbia acquired its first supercomputer in 2021 with 32 graphics cards, while the second has 48. The supercomputer’s capacities have been made available free of charge to faculties, institutes and startups in science and technology parks across Serbia.

A new step forward will be the third supercomputer, for which a contract has already been signed. This computer will have 640 cards, and it will come from France and should be delivered by the end of the year, announced Mihailo Jovanovic, Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment.

He added that access to the capacities would be made available to the economy not long after.

– We are aware that until the economy massively starts developing and using software based on artificial intelligence, we will not have a good enough result in this area – he said, adding that the third supercomputer would cost EUR 36 million.

Jovanovic explains that such equipment requires special conditions, primarily a specific cooling system.

– Air cooling is not enough, but water needs to reach the supercomputer chips themselves in order to take that heat – explains Jovanovic.

The heat generated by the equipment is already used to heat the administrative space of the Data Center, but there are more ambitious plans.

– We are working on transferring that heat to the city of Kragujevac – says Jovanovic.

When it comes to the Innovation District, he pointed out that the first building should be completed in September, adding that it would also have a kinetic facade - which could move and which would be connected to the Data Center. The second building out of a total of nine should be completed early next year, and the cornerstone for the third is expected in September.

Passport and ID card - AI to search for appointment

One of the first concrete innovations within eGovernment that citizens could use by the end of September concerns scheduling an appointment for replacing their ID card and passport. According to Jovanovic, the service is in the final testing phase.

Instead of searching for police stations and available appointments themselves, citizens will be able to log in to the eGovernment portal and ask the AI assistant to find them a suitable appointment.

– Citizens will log in to the eGovernment portal and say: “Please, tell me the nearest police station, can I go, schedule an appointment for me, to go and replace my ID card and passport.” And they will get that appointment – explains Jovanovic.

The plan is to adapt other services in this way over time, including enrolling children in kindergarten or high school.

Artificial Intelligence in cadaster too

The Office for IT and eGovernment is also talking to the Republic Geodetic Authority about the use of new technologies in the cadaster. One possibility is the use of artificial intelligence to process large quantities of orthophoto images, but also to speed up administrative procedures.

– Certain actions that they have in the cadaster administration can also be accelerated. For example, the second-instance procedure that they have in the cadaster can certainly be accelerated with the use of artificial intelligence – says Jovanovic.

He says that an initial plan has been made and that he expects concrete results “very soon.”

Kancelarija za informacione tehnologije i elektronsku upravu Beograd

Republički geodetski zavod Beograd

Office for IT and eGovernment

Kragujevac Innovation Districts

Data Center Kragujevac

Republic Geodetic Authority

Mihailo Jovanović

supercomputer