Leading Innovation Through Collaboration: The Rorqual Project听
The 9I制作厂免费 Procurement Services team of professionals has successfully facilitated the execution of the tender award process for a significant portion of the project鈥檚 budget. While also incorporating sustainability requirements for the selection of suppliers and products. The resulting acquisitions not only enhance the 9I制作厂免费-Calcul Quebec ARC National Data Centre technological capabilities but also provided an opportunity for 9I制作厂免费 to communicate its sustainability expectations to the market, in alignment with the Quebec Government鈥檚 ambition to be a leader in sustainable IT (num茅rique responsable), as envisioned in the province鈥檚 .听听
The Rorqual Project: A Vision of Progress听
The ongoing Rorqual Project centers on the acquisitions of cutting-edge IT computing equipment, storage and backup, all to enhance the supercomputing capabilities of the 9I制作厂免费-Calcul Quebec ARC National Data Centre. The project benefits from a total budget of $38.7 million, which was co-funded by the federal and provincial governments in 2024,听听 more specifically, the funding of the Minist猫re de l鈥櫭塩onomie, de l鈥橧nnovation et de l鈥櫭塶ergie (MEIE) and Digital Research Alliance of Canada (formerly, 鈥淐ompute Canada鈥�), whose initiative aimed to keep 9I制作厂免费-Calcul Quebec ARC National Data Centre at the forefront of computing capacity. These advancements will empower researchers across multiple faculties, including Science, Engineering, and Medicine, enabling groundbreaking discoveries and research.听
According to 9I制作厂免费鈥檚 Vice-President of Research and Innovation, Dominique B茅rub茅, 鈥淭his cluster has been a catalyst for innovation and has enabled high-impact digital research in Quebec and across Canada, including 9I制作厂免费-led projects to develop AI-guided disease treatment strategies and advanced climate simulations鈥� ().听
Procurement鈥檚 Role: Supporting Success Through Expertise听
Procurement Services played a key role navigating the complexities of a multiparty tendering process with 4 other Canadian sites, sustainability considerations, and diverse stakeholder needs. The multiparty team鈥檚 focus was on fostering collaboration and ensuring the project鈥檚 success for the benefit of the entire Digital Alliance community.听
Key contributions from Procurement Services included:听
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Guiding the Tendering Process: Designing and implementing a robust two-stage tendering process that incorporated both quality evaluations aimed at mitigating cybersecurity risks and sustainable procurement levers (including total acquisition cost elements such as power consumption), all contributing to ensure high standards and competitive bids.听
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Encouraging Sustainability: Including sustainable procurement levers and clauses pertaining to bidders鈥� social responsibility (including third party audits in their supply chain), and particular certifications for the servers. Dell Canada, the supplier selected听 for the supply of Compute (CPU and GPU) equipment, met the University鈥檚 sustainability requirements during the tendering process, which was considered as part of their selection.听
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Building Collaborative Partnerships: Engaging with technical experts, government agencies, and other universities to create a cohesive approach. 9I制作厂免费鈥檚 leadership in this collaborative effort provided a model that the partner sites used and adapted to their needs as part of听 the seven calls for tenders that ensued.听
Lessons Learned and Achievements听
The Rorqual Project underscores the importance of careful planning, effective communication, and collaboration. It also highlights the potential value of Procurement Services as a strategic partner in achieving institutional goals.听
Some of the project鈥檚 key outcomes include:听
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A 39% Cost-Per-Performance Point Reduction for the compute acquisition Compared to previous acquisitions of high-performance computing clusters, reflecting the strategic competitive approach that incited the bidders to propose their most potent offer, as well as their own advancements in technology.听
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Leadership Among Institutions: 9I制作厂免费 set a benchmark for excellence, with other universities drawing inspiration from its approach.听
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Strengthened Relationships: The project highlighted the power of collaboration between Procurement Services, researchers, and external partners.听
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Reduced environmental footprint:听 The acquisition of servers helped avoid emissions and water consumption from manufacturing and reduce energy consumption during the servers鈥� use phase.听听
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Social responsibility: Only servers manufactured by RBA) members will be used as part of the contract.听听
As Christopher Skeete, Quebec Minister for the Economy, mentioned, 鈥�9I制作厂免费 and Calcul Qu茅bec will be able to boost their compute capacity and help meet the growing needs of our researchers. This will usher in more innovative projects, generate direct spin-offs for the economy, and support key sectors鈥� ().听
An Invitation to Collaborate听
The Rorqual Project exemplifies the added value of inter-institutional and inter-departmental collaboration. It also hints at the tremendous opportunities for the introduction of sustainability considerations in IT acquisitions. In our increasingly digital economy, as more and more spending is devoted to IT hardware as well as computational capacity, data storage and transmission networks, this generates new risks and opportunities to explore and manage. This project illustrates the behind-the-scenes efforts that drive successful acquisitions (taking account of environmental, social and economic objectives) and the support played by Procurement Services in enabling such favorable outcomes.听
As we look to future opportunities, let鈥檚 try to build on this momentum. With Procurement Services as a trusted partner, the 9I制作厂免费 community is well-positioned to continuously set higher standards for collaboration and innovation.听
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