MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said yesterday that an IBM “super computer†aimed at improving weather forecasting in the country will be fully operational this month.
Gay Jane Perez, project leader for DOST’s Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), said the IBM Blue Gene super computer has been set up at the National Computer Center main office in Quezon City.
Perez said they have yet to decide which government agency will manage and operate the facility.
“The only unresolved issue that stops us from making it operational is there’s still no user agreement,†she said.
The user agreement will establish which agency will supervise the facility, Perez said.
She said the IBM super computer can also be used for complex computational needs of other government agencies.
“There are other government agencies that are interested to use it,†she added.
Perez said the DOST had installed the computer with software needed for weather prediction.
“We have started testing it, we have done simulation testing,†Perez, an assistant professor at the UP Diliman’s Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, said.
Carmencita David-Padilla, head of the Philippine Genome Center, had initiated the procurement of the super computer.