Imagine you need to predict what happens when a million refugees move across Europe, or how a pandemic spreads through cities, or what a financial crisis does to supply chains. These problems are so massive and interconnected that no single computer or dataset can handle them alone. HiDALGO combined supercomputers with big data analytics to run these huge simulations — think of it like a flight simulator, but for entire societies and global crises. The goal was to give decision-makers actual evidence instead of guesswork when facing planet-scale problems.
Governments, insurers, and large enterprises need to simulate complex global scenarios — pandemics, migration waves, financial crises, climate impacts — but these problems are too interconnected and massive for standard computing. Making decisions based on incomplete models or gut feelings leads to costly mistakes when the real crisis hits.
HiDALGO built high-performance computing workflows that combine big data analytics, large-scale simulations, and data visualization for modeling interconnected global challenges. The project produced 18 deliverables including simulation tools, data integration methods, and a project platform, with 1 demo deliverable covering the project website and brand identity.
If you are an insurance company or bank dealing with increasingly complex stress-testing requirements — this project developed high-performance computing workflows that combine multiple data sources into massive simulations. With 14 partners across 7 countries contributing expertise, the platform can model interconnected financial risks at a scale traditional IT infrastructure cannot handle.
If you are a government agency dealing with disaster response or pandemic planning — this project built simulation tools that model how crises spread and evolve across populations. The platform integrates big data analytics with supercomputing to test different intervention scenarios before committing real resources, backed by EUR 7,991,500 in EU research funding.
If you are an energy utility dealing with the complexity of transitioning to green technologies — this project developed data analytics and visualization tools that simulate how policy changes, market shifts, and technology adoption interact at a global scale. The consortium included 4 industry partners who contributed real-world requirements for these simulations.
The project was publicly funded with EUR 7,991,500 under a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), meaning core results are typically available through open-access publications. Specific licensing terms for the simulation tools and workflows would need to be discussed with the coordinator ATOS Spain or relevant consortium partners.
HiDALGO was specifically designed for exascale computing — the highest tier of supercomputing performance. The project addressed real global challenges including climate modeling, health crises, and financial stress testing. With 4 industry partners and 5 research organizations in the consortium, the tools were built with real-world scale in mind.
As an EU-funded RIA project coordinated by ATOS Spain (a major IT services company), IP ownership follows EU grant agreement rules where each partner typically retains IP they generate. ATOS as coordinator would be the best entry point for licensing discussions.
The project focused on integrating different data workflows and simulation tools, suggesting interoperability was a design priority. However, accessing the full platform capabilities requires high-performance computing infrastructure. Based on available project data, integration specifics would need to be discussed with the technical partners.
The project ran from December 2018 to February 2022. ATOS Spain, as a large commercial IT services company, has the capacity to continue developing and commercializing the tools. A successor project or commercial offering may exist — the project website at hidalgo-project.eu would have the latest information.
HiDALGO specifically targets coupled global simulations — where multiple complex systems (climate, migration, finance) interact with each other. Standard big data platforms handle individual datasets, but this project built workflows for interconnected simulations running on supercomputers. The 18 deliverables produced during the project cover these specialized integration methods.
The HiDALGO consortium brings together 14 partners from 7 countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Poland, UK), coordinated by ATOS Spain — one of Europe's largest IT services companies with deep expertise in HPC. The mix includes 4 industry partners, 4 universities, 5 research organizations, and 1 other entity, giving a 29% industry ratio. Having ATOS as coordinator is a strong signal for eventual commercialization, as they have the sales channels and infrastructure to bring research tools to market. The single SME in the consortium suggests this is enterprise-grade technology rather than startup-friendly tooling. The geographic spread across Central, Southern, and Western Europe provides access to diverse government and institutional customers.
ATOS Spain SA is the coordinator — reach their R&D or public sector division for licensing and collaboration inquiries
Want an introduction to the HiDALGO team? SciTransfer can connect you with the right technical contact and prepare a tailored briefing for your use case.
