For more than fifteen years, research institutions and scientific communities across Southeast Europe have been building strong regional cooperation in advanced digital infrastructure. According to Dr. Dušan Vudragović from Serbian National Competence Center in High-performance computing (NCC Serbia), the long-standing collaboration laid the foundations for today's development of high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced data analysis capacities in the region.

Speaking at the EuroCC4SEE Workshop in Belgrade, Dr. Vudragović emphasized that regional cooperation initially grew through the development of research and education networks. Today, the cooperation has expanded far beyond data networks and GRID technologies. Regional partners are working together in the fields of HPC, high-performance data analytics, and AI, with the shared goal of supporting researchers, public institutions and industry in the everyday use of these technologies.

Dr. Vudragović stressed that the region already has significant achievements despite relatively limited infrastructure capacities. "In Serbia, the national-level PARADOX cluster at the Institute of Physics Belgrade is already fully overloaded", Dr. Vudragović said, emphasizing the urgent need for additional infrastructure investments.

The growing demand for supercomputing capacities has also been recognized at the European level. Through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, the European Commission is investing heavily in the development of European supercomputing infrastructure and encouraging wider participation from member and associated countries. As Dr. Vudragović concluded, recognizing the strategic importance of supercomputing is essential for innovation, technological competitiveness, and economic development across the region.