I set Compute Canada’s direction despite stakeholder uncertainty and, sometimes, antagonism. Our more concentrated model for DI would have both winners and losers among our stakeholder institutions, but all of our researchers would win through access to radically increased capabilities. Despite these anxieties, we succeeded in executing the total refresh of Canada’s DI platform, going from 24 data centres and nearly 50 aging systems to just 5 world-class supercomputers and data centres. The refresh reduced annual operating costs by 40%, increased compute and storage capacity 10X, and allowed Compute Canada to meet demand growth of over 50% per year and user growth of over 25% per year.
I am proud of the team at Compute Canada and its partners, and at every organization I have led, and of what they have accomplished. These achievements include new investment, data centre consolidation and total technology refresh for Compute Canada, increased membership at OSPE, adoption of lean manufacturing in CME’s Smart Program, and use of Digital Power Network’s IoT tools for proactive maintenance at power companies. They all required a clear vision of the future, effective strategies for getting there, and a relentless focus on value for the customer and stakeholders.