Supercomputer: Atos loses against Microsoft, but obliges the United Kingdom to compensate it for 27 million euros


Great Britain is forced to pay 24 million pounds (27 million euros) to Atos as part of an amicable settlement following a call for tenders on a supercomputer mentions the Financial Times. The French group claimed that its offer had been unfairly rejected.

Atos has contested the award to its American rival Microsoft of a contract worth 850 million pounds sterling (965 million euros) to develop a supercomputer for weather forecasting and the study of climate change.

The dispute centered on the requirements for providing two test supercomputers and one development supercomputer in addition to the main supercomputer system, where the systems all had to be “architecturally equivalent”.

The cost of the overall project is estimated at 1.36 billion euros

Atos claimed the UK government rejected its bid as “non-compliant” on the grounds that its proposal for a smaller development computer system used different processors than the main supercomputer. Atos was the only other shortlisted bidder in the tender. He accused the British government of failing to comply with public procurement regulations. The case was therefore settled before being taken to court.

The new supercomputer, which will be run by the Met Office, is expected to be one of the most advanced in the world for weather forecasting. The cost of the overall project is estimated at 1.2 billion pounds sterling (1.36 billion euros).

This new new computer is expected to be among the top 25 supercomputers in the world.





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