LEXIS · Project

One Platform to Run Supercomputing, Cloud, and Big Data — Even for SMEs

digitalPilotedTRL 7

Imagine you need massive computing power to crunch your data — like simulating how an aircraft part behaves in flight, or predicting earthquake damage across a city — but buying a supercomputer is out of the question. LEXIS built a single platform that lets you tap into supercomputing centers, cloud services, and big data tools across Europe through one door. Think of it like Uber for heavy-duty computing: you describe your job, the platform finds the right machines across multiple data centers, runs it, and delivers results. It was tested with real aeronautics companies, earthquake researchers, and weather forecasters to prove it actually works at scale.

By the numbers

consortium partners across the project

countries represented in the consortium

real-world validation pilots (aeronautics, earthquake/tsunami, weather/climate)

total project deliverables produced

industry partners in the consortium

portal releases delivered (first, second, final)

The business problem

What needed solving

Many companies — especially SMEs — need serious computing power for simulations, data analytics, or forecasting, but supercomputing has traditionally been inaccessible due to cost and technical complexity. Even larger firms struggle to combine HPC, cloud, and big data tools into a single workflow, often dealing with fragmented infrastructure scattered across providers and countries. LEXIS addresses the gap between what companies need to compute and what they can realistically access.

The solution

What was built

LEXIS built a federated HPC-Cloud-Big Data platform with a web portal (delivered in three releases), an HPC orchestration system for distributing jobs across multiple supercomputing centers, and a field-deployed smart gateway for collecting and transmitting real-time sensor data. The platform includes built-in usage monitoring and billing capabilities.

Audience

Who needs this

Aerospace companies running CFD simulations and structural analysisReinsurance and catastrophe modeling firms needing large-scale risk computationPrivate weather services and climate analytics providersSMEs in engineering or manufacturing that need occasional HPC access without owning infrastructureNational meteorological agencies looking to modernize forecasting pipelines

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Aerospace & Defense

enterprise

Target: Aircraft component manufacturers and MRO companies

If you are an aerospace manufacturer running complex aerodynamic simulations that take days on your in-house servers — LEXIS developed a federated HPC orchestration platform that distributes your compute jobs across multiple supercomputing centers automatically. The platform was validated in an aeronautics pilot with real industrial workloads, targeting significant improvements in job execution time and solution accuracy.

Insurance & Risk Assessment

enterprise

Target: Catastrophe modeling and reinsurance firms

If you are a reinsurance company that needs to model earthquake and tsunami risk across large regions but struggles with the data volumes and compute time — LEXIS built a platform tested in earthquake and tsunami simulations that combines HPC with big data analytics. The system federates geographically-distributed computing resources and was field-tested with a smart gateway for collecting and transmitting in-situ observations.

Weather Services & Logistics

SME

Target: Private weather forecasting companies and logistics planners

If you are a weather-dependent logistics or energy company that needs faster, more accurate forecasts but cannot afford dedicated supercomputing infrastructure — LEXIS created a cloud-HPC hybrid platform validated in weather and climate pilots. The platform lets SMEs access powerful compute resources that were previously out of reach for both technical and financial reasons.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost my company to use this platform?

The project built usage monitoring and accounting/billing capabilities into the platform, suggesting a pay-per-use model. Specific pricing is not published in the project data. Contact the consortium to discuss commercial terms and pilot opportunities.

Can this handle our production-scale workloads, not just demos?

LEXIS was designed to leverage large-scale geographically-distributed resources from existing HPC infrastructure across Europe. It was validated in three industrial and scientific pilots (aeronautics, earthquake/tsunami, weather/climate) targeting significant improvements in job execution time and solution accuracy. The platform federates real supercomputing centers, not simulated environments.

What about IP — is this open source or proprietary?

The project explicitly developed a demonstrator with a significant Open Source dimension, including validation, test, and documentation. This means core components are likely available under open licenses, though specific commercial add-ons or support services may be offered by consortium partners.

How does this integrate with our existing IT infrastructure?

The platform builds on established data management solutions (EUDAT) and uses TOSCA-based distributed orchestration, which are industry-standard approaches. It augments these with Data Nodes for efficient hardware capabilities. The three portal releases suggest a web-based interface that should work alongside existing systems.

Is this actually ready to use or still experimental?

LEXIS ran from 2019 to 2021 as an Innovation Action, which means it went beyond research into real-world testing. The consortium delivered three portal releases (first, second, and final), a federated HPC orchestration system, and field-deployed a smart gateway for collecting in-situ observations. This points to a tested, piloted platform.

Who is behind this — can we trust the technology providers?

The consortium includes 18 partners from 8 countries with 9 industry partners and 3 SMEs (50% industry ratio). It spans flagship HPC centres, technology providers, and industrial pilot users. The coordinator is VSB - Technical University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

Consortium

Who built it

The LEXIS consortium is notably industry-heavy for a technology platform project: 9 out of 18 partners come from industry (50%), with 3 SMEs included. The remaining partners split between 7 research organizations and 2 universities, spanning 8 countries (CH, CZ, DE, FR, IE, IT, SE, UK). This composition signals serious commercial intent — the consortium deliberately included flagship HPC centres alongside industrial pilot users and technology providers. For a business buyer, this means the platform was shaped by real users with real workloads, not just academics. The coordinator, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, brings strong HPC expertise from the Czech Republic's computing ecosystem.

VSB - TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVACoordinator · CZ
CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE IN MONITORAGGIO AMBIENTALE - FONDAZIONE CIMAparticipant · IT
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAYparticipant · IE
TESEO SPA TECNOLOGIE E SISTEMI ELETTRONICI ED OTTICIparticipant · IT
COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVESparticipant · FR
NUMTECHparticipant · FR
ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR POLAR- UND MEERESFORSCHUNGparticipant · DE
BAYERISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTENparticipant · DE
GFZ HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM FUR GEOFORSCHUNGparticipant · DE
EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR MEDIUM-RANGE WEATHER FORECASTSparticipant · UK
BULL SASparticipant · FR
GE AVIO SRLparticipant · IT
FONDAZIONE LINKS - LEADING INNOVATION & KNOWLEDGE FOR SOCIETYparticipant · IT

How to reach the team

Reach the coordinator at VSB - Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic) through SciTransfer for a warm introduction.

Order a report on this consortium See VSB - TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore whether LEXIS technology fits your computing needs? SciTransfer can arrange a direct conversation with the right consortium partner for your use case.

Order a report on this topic More in Digital & ICT