Our conference begins in just a few days. Whether you’re joining us in Dallas, or virtually from elsewhere in the world, I’m delighted you will be attending SC22. Welcome.

To me, HPC is all about speed. That’s why our theme this year is “HPC Accelerates.” Throughout more than 200 sessions – lectures, panels, exhibits, award presentations and more – you’ll see that theme come to life. You’ll also see this theme in the exhibit hall, where you’ll find more than 350 exhibitors ready to welcome you.

“HPC Accelerates” also describes how supercomputing is rapidly changing the world, by “accelerating” the speed of finding solutions – for corporations, governments, and other organizations. That was certainly proven during the pandemic, when the HPC community answered the call and illustrated the importance of being able to ramp up scientific research in the blink of an eye.

The world is spinning faster than ever, and HPC plays a key role in helping us all keep up. Innovative hardware and software are emerging every day throughout the HPC community. HPC is “accelerating” our understanding of the world; from weather forecasting in a world challenged by climate change, to the critical importance of scientific computing combined with artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, HPC is helping to make new discoveries happen. And with the advancements in exascale and the exciting new field of quantum computing, we are developing specialized hardware to solve particular problems with unprecedented speed.

Planning for SC22 began more than three years ago. You may not be aware that SC conferences are planned and executed by volunteers from the global HPC community. You can see the complete list of volunteers on the planning committee page on our website. This year, we have more than 1,000 people who donated their time and expertise to bring you this conference, including:

• 735 Volunteers who planned and organized the Technical Program;
• 15 Virtual Logistics Volunteers who devoted countless hours to developing a new digital platform, purpose-built for our conference;
• 1 Mobile App Volunteer who worked diligently to bring the Eventbase mobile app back to the conference so you can connect with other attendees, whether in Dallas or virtually, as well as find your way around the convention center;
• 175 SCinet Volunteers who designed and deployed the world’s fastest network for the conference, capable of 5.01 terabits per second of WAN capacity and WiFi 6E wireless capabilities in the convention center.

The Digital Experience is now live and the SC22 Mobile App is available for download, so you can start planning your schedule. In the mobile app, be sure to “opt in” to make yourself visible to your friends and colleagues, so you can easily message and stay in touch during the conference.

It’s going to be a great conference. There’s still time to register, so if you know of someone who’s not yet attending be sure to let them know it’s not too late.

I’ll see you in just a few days at SC22!

Candace Culhane, SC22 General Chair

Meeting up with old friends and making new ones is something that post-attendee surveys consistently tell us is a key reason why people attend the SC conference. And there will be plenty of folks to see at SC22 in Dallas.

Registrations for the conference are mounting, tracking at pre-pandemic numbers and predominantly for in-person attendance. If you’ve been on the fence about attending, now’s the time to make your plans to join the HPC community for what’s shaping up to be an outstanding conference. There’s still plenty of time to register; read about your registration options and then use the links in Step 4 to register.

SC22 strives to be an inclusive conference; ALL are welcome. We offer family resources including session access, a Parents Room that provides private feeding areas, and on-site care for children ages 6 months and older.

What’s Happening at SC22

Speed is the foundation of HPC, and will be at the forefront of our industry over the next year as more exascale systems come online. So it’s fitting that speed also serves as the foundation for SC22, with the theme HPC Accelerates. The conference offers a robust technical program, plus programs geared just for students and those early in their careers. Due to popular demand, pocket-sized, a program-at-a-glance guide is available at the registration desk.

A key metric of how an SC conference is shaping up is exhibit booth sales. And exhibitors are turning out to show their wares in Dallas; the exhibit hall will be filled with 350 exhibitors. Many exhibitors have increased their booth space from previous years. We’re also excited to welcome more than 50 new exhibitors, too. Be sure to grab your exhibitor map at the registration desk when you claim your badge so you can plan your stops and more easily navigate the exhibit hall.

There are options to connect with other attendees in the SC22 mobile app that will go live on November 1. The app is available for free for both Android and Apple devices; download from your app store (links will also be on the SC22 website). Once you configure the app’s settings to let you be visible to other attendees, you can interact with others whether they’re in Dallas or participating digitally.

If this will be your first time attending an SC conference, please check out the first-timers page and plan to attend the first-timers session on Monday, November 14, at 4 pm. You’ll learn tips for navigating the conference and have a chance to ask questions.

So join us in person in Dallas – or via the Digital Experience. It’s shaping up to be a great conference and we can’t wait to see you!

Vaccination No Longer Required for Attendance

Planning a conference in a world of COVID-19 is challenging as we never know what the virus will do next. The SC22 Planning Committee has followed the science along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization recommendations, and integrated that information with the views and input of the HPC community. As vaccinations for this virus have significantly reduced serious illness, hospitalization, and death, the SC22 attendance policy was for all in-person attendees to be vaccinated.

Because Texas prohibits such requirements, going forward, all SC22 in-person attendees are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, follow the CDC guidance, and to properly wear (covering nose, mouth and chin) a high-quality KN-95 or N-95 face mask while at SC22. SC22 will have a supply of KN-95 masks available to attendees during the conference.

Registration Changes

Anyone who would like to modify or update their registration may do so by using the change/modify screens on the registration site.

SC22 Registration Site

Digital Experience & Mobile App Available

The custom-built Digital Experience option is available for those who are not attending the conference in person. The interface is easy-to-use and will include live-streaming as well as recording for on-demand viewing of nearly all conference events.

Based on feedback from the last two years, we have created a new platform that has been made more intuitive, enabling participants to easily access the preponderance of lectures, panels, exhibitor sessions, tutorials, and showcases taking place throughout the conference. For Digital Experience attendees to benefit from automatic closed captioning, the content will be live-streamed with a 12- to 15-second delay.

The SC22 mobile app is returning to the conference this year and will, among other things, allow you to virtually connect and network with other attendees.

You’ll be able to download the app from links on the Mobile App page closer to the conference.

SC22 Is the Place to Be No Matter How You Attend

We are confident SC22 will be terrific. All of the things that make SC a special experience will be happening. The technical program is nearly finalized, with the depth and breadth you’ve come to expect from an SC conference. For in-person attendees, more than 290 exhibitors have committed to be on the show floor in the exhibit hall, ready to share their latest offerings with you. And, as always, old and new friends are ready to share their experiences and help you solve your challenges or advance your career regardless of how you connect.

We look forward to seeing you in November,  in person or through the Digital Experience!

Register for SC22

Presenting the Digital Experience

Just as the science of high performance computing continues to evolve, so too does the online platform that will bring SC22 to individuals around the globe who are unable to attend in person.

Digital SC attendance was inaugurated in 2020 due to the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Building upon lessons learned in the past two years, the SC22 Digital Experience is a new, custom-built platform. Conference attendees who won’t be making the trek to Dallas this coming November will experience an easy-to-use interface that allows them to access content in real time, or later on demand.

Digital Experience access is also included with an in-person Technical Program registration. Attendees can plan their day without worrying about schedule conflicts—see one presentation in person, watch recordings of others later.

With just a few exceptions, we will be live-streaming all technical sessions from the convention center with all of that content available for on-demand access.

What’s New?

This year’s Digital Experience has been made more intuitive, enabling participants to easily access the preponderance of lectures, panels, exhibitor sessions, tutorials, and showcases taking place throughout the conference. For Digital Experience attendees to benefit from automatic closed captioning, the content will be live-streamed with a 12- to 15-second delay.

Digital Experience attendees will also be able to participate in Q&A sessions for most live-stream content through a Q&A interface. This allows participants to ask questions and/or vote on what questions they consider to be the most important; the session chairs will moderate the in-person and Digital Experience questions.

See what is included in the SC22 Digital Experience.

A sample presentation page from the Digital Experience.

How We Made a Custom Platform

To optimize virtual access to SC22, we realized we needed to create our own platform. We began by assessing the platforms and features used for SC20 and SC21. We also considered virtual best practices implemented at other technology conferences, such as those conducted in the past year by IEEE.

The Virtual Logistics committee worked diligently to integrate this new Digital Experience within the SC22 website schedule. In this, attendees will not need to juggle between the website and a secondary virtual platform! We believe the refinements made for SC22 will simplify the online experience, and we believe our approach this year will reduce problems with latency and buffering that many conferences have experienced.

More importantly, everything live-streamed during SC22 will be recorded, edited, and uploaded for on-demand replay within 24 hours of being broadcast, as it was at SC21. That’s a significant benefit for both virtual and in-person conference attendees, who will be able to access the content from multiple conference sessions that take place simultaneously.

All on-demand content will remain available through January 1, 2023.

How to Attend Digitally

All in-person registrants automatically receive access to Digital Experience content, according to the registration category chosen. Attendees who only register for the Digital Experience will pay a reduced fee. Learn more about registration and fee options.

The SC22 Digital Experience will go live a few days before the conference begins, on or about November 1, 2022. You may access it via the blue bar at the top of each SC22 website page.

All registered attendees will receive an email invitation once the Digital Experience goes live, and the username will be the email address they used to register. The password will be the attendee’s registration ID number.

For more information, visit the SC22 Digital Experience page, which includes an FAQ at the bottom of the page.