Urgent support for rebuilding AI processing infrastructure; Stop providing services to 170 centers

The president of Sharif University of Technology called for real and immediate support to rebuild the university's high-speed computing center (HPC) and repurchase servers and graphics processors (GPU).

Masoud Tajrishi, president of Sharif University of Technology, in a conversation with Mehr reporter, said about the latest state of reconstruction of the artificial intelligence processing and computing infrastructure of this university, which was damaged during the 40-day war: the fact is that no reconstruction has been done so far; Because no credit has been allocated for this issue yet. We have repeatedly stated that the University's vital processing infrastructure is down and we need immediate support.

Referring to the recent meetings to provide financial resources, he added: It was decided that the banks would help the four universities that suffered losses from their tax resources. The figure estimated and announced by the judicial authorities for the amount of damage is known; But now they have informed us that the payment ceiling of the government is not more than 5 Hamat (thousand billion tomans), because the government's assessment is based on the ability to pay and the available resources.

Referring to the understanding between 4 banks and 4 universities (including Sharif University) for the reconstruction of technology centers damaged in the war, he said: Our request is that special attention be paid to universities that provide national services. If (such as a 24-month period) To restore resilience, some of these infrastructures need to be activated much more quickly so that society feels that the damage is being repaired quickly. However, despite the difficult road ahead of us, the motivation and hope of students at the beginning of the academic year is very high and it is a sign that with your support, we will quickly return the university to its original position.

The president of Sharif University of Technology criticized the way the damages were assessed and stated: Our main issue is that the lost equipment must be replaced. The evaluations that have been done are based on the paper and office value of the devices; That is, they say that this server or GPU has worked for ten years and its current value has been depreciated. While that device was fully active and serving the country before the damage. Now, in order to replace the same equipment, due to the depreciation of the rial, the accumulated inflation and the exchange rate, exorbitant foreign exchange costs must be paid.

Tajrishi expressed hope that these resources will be paid with a more realistic figure and as soon as possible so that the university can re-enter the service circuit of at least a part of its high-speed computing center (HPC) by repurchasing servers and graphics processors (GPU).

Complete interruption of services to 170 centers/ claim of replacement processing is not true

In response to Mehr's reporter's question about the fate of the projects and the claim of some about replacing the processing capacities of Sharif University through other centers, he said: It is not true to say that the services of Sharif University have been replaced or that researchers use elsewhere without problems. We used to provide artificial intelligence and GPU processing services to about 170 academic and research centers and complexes in the country, but now these services have been completely stopped due to the destruction of the infrastructure.

In the end, the president of Sharif University of Technology noted: Currently, we even pay 10.5 billion tomans per month just to rent some minimum processing capacities so that the necessary work is not delayed. It wasn't like someone came to compensate for this big gap or pay for it; The service has practically stopped and its compensation requires an urgent decision and real funding.

According to Ambassador Arjan, the recent memorandum of understanding was concluded with the participation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, the Presidential Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, 4 banks and the presidents of the four Shahid Beheshti, Science and Industry, Shahid Beheshti and Industrial Universities of Isfahan and with the cooperation of the Tax Affairs Organization of the country, with the aim of compensating the damages caused to the technological infrastructure and providing the necessary resources for the reconstruction and re-equipment of these capacities.

According to this memorandum, the financing of the reconstruction projects will be done from the capacity of the investment tax credit, the subject of clause "t" of article (11) of the law on leapfrogging knowledge-based production and within the framework of clause "b" of article (99) of the law of the 7th plan of progress.

According to this report, four banks have undertaken the commitment to provide the necessary financing for this matter, which will lead to the reconstruction of the losses of the universities within a maximum period of 24 months.

One of the main axes of this memorandum is to create a mechanism to reduce the risk of taxpayers and make tax credit predictable; In such a way that the allocated tax credit is deducted from the tax liability of the taxpayer, according to the regulations and after issuing the final tax form.

Based on the foreseen mechanism, the projects related to this memorandum will be followed through the Innovation and Prosperity Fund after review and approval in accordance with the Executive Regulations of Clause "T" of Article (11) of the Knowledge-Based Production Leapsing Law, and this fund will be responsible for creating predictability in the process of granting tax credits.

Also, the Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy is required to design the process of review and evaluation of reconstruction plans in such a way that the initial review and declaration of the possibility of meeting the necessary conditions for final approval can be done within one month at most.

The universities affected by the memorandum of understanding, as parties to the memorandum, will be responsible for developing an investment plan in the innovation ecosystem, introducing the project's operator, drawing up the operation contract, and monitoring the good implementation of the project.

In this memorandum, it is emphasized that the use of the capacities of this memorandum does not negate the benefit of other legal capacities and the legal requirements, including obtaining the approval of the steering council of knowledge-based technologies and productions, will still be in place. The executive contracts of this memorandum will be compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance in cooperation with the Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy.