AI Expo Africa 2020

Recap

- Launched at AI Expo Africa in 2019

- Largest and most complex undertaking of its kind in

Africa’s history
Science: AI Transforms Science

Science:
07 July 2017
Vol 357, Issue 6346

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/357/6346
Overview: Components and Programs

▪ Global Collaboration Network

▪ Partner and Affiliate program
▪ Co-development
▪ Open Learning
▪ Summer and Winter programs
▪ Salons and teatime sessions
Cirrus ▪ Academic programs
▪ Research to Communication program
▪ Digital Asset Locker
▪ Sandbox
▪ Ideation ▪ HPC platform
▪ Product creation ▪ Data management platform
▪ Start-up portfolio ▪ Research support
▪ Monthly classes, Cirrus FOUNDRY
events and workshops
▪ Academic programs

Cirrus FOUNDRY
Fund

▪ Pre-seed
▪ Seed
New Wits Vice Chancellor

- Launched Cirrus at AI Expo Africa in 2019

Cirrus Project Lead at Wits: Barry Dwolatzky

- Tshimologong Precinct
- Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE)
- IBM Research Laboratory at Wits
Persons on the Cirrus team include:

Adv Louis Nel Johan Brink Eric Thalmann Andre van der Dr Jacques Ludik
General Counsel Corporate Procurement, Merwe Cirrus FOUNDRY
Supply Chain and Intellectual Cape, MIIA
Operations Property
Cirrus high level targets
- HPC
- Most powerful computer system in Africa
- Powered by renewable energy
- ~ 3 MW’s solar
- HPC centre
- 650 square meters (7000 square feet) state-of-the-art facility
- Most efficient HPC facility in Africa
- Liquid cooling
Cirrus high level targets
- Academic programs
- Residency
- Intern
- Postdoc
- Assistantship
- 35 million USD
- Target FOUNDRY Fund capitalisation
Energy
- Generation
- ~ 3 MW solar generation
- ~ 1,5 MW for operations
- ~ 1,5 MW into storage

- Storage
- > 14 MWh
- > 15 year lifespan
- > 75% efficiency (electricity to electricity)

- Storage options:
- Flow, liquid metal batteries
- Thermal
- Lithium ion

- First pilot installation in Africa

Proposed sites
1.
HPC centre

2.
Energy storage
facility and part of
the generation
capacity

3.
Part of the
generation
capacity
 1 – Operations and HPC

Purpose: High Performance Computing Centre and home to Cirrus

operations.
Land area: ~ 35 000 square feet / 3 252 square meters.
 2 – Energy Storage

Purpose: Energy storage facility.

Land area: ~ 35 000 square feet / 3 252 square meters.
 2 – Generation

Purpose: Solar generation

Land area: ~ 72 000 square feet / 6 690 square meters
Land area (yellow): ~ 35 000 square feet / 3 252 square meters,
reserve capacity.
 3 – Generation

Purpose: Solar generation

Land area: ~ 71 000 square feet / 6 596 square meters
Cell efficiencies:
Cirrus Consortium
- For:
- Academic and Research institutions
- Why:
- Access to Cirrus infrastructure and resources
- Leading the engagement:
- Wits University
Consortium Membership provides access to:
Cirrus
Global Collaboration Network
Partner and Affiliate program
Co-development program
Open Learning
Summer and Winter programs
Salons and teatime sessions
Academic programs
Research to Communication program
Digital Asset Locker
Sandbox
HPC platform
Research support
FABRIC testbed/edge node
Right to host events at Consortium forums
Inclusion on Consortium led contracts
Ambassador Advisory Network
Distribution of CONSORTIUM Member’s marketing material
Cirrus FOUNDRY
Monthly classes events and workshops
Academic programs
Cirrus FOUNDRY Fund
Pre-seed

Seed
 Cirrus Consortium Structure
Cirrus Consortium

Membership Benefits Consortium Charter Consortium By-laws

Consortium
Membership
Agreement
Cirrus Advisory Council

Two Classes

Tier 2 Tier 1

Ambassador Advisory
Ambassador
Network

- Italics denotes a document

- Consortium Members sign the Consortium Membership Agreement
Engagement
- A note on how Cirrus is structured to support stakeholder
engagement
Engagement map Foundations and Private Sector
Philanthropies

Investment Banking
Team

Partner Program
Strategic Founding
Partners
Affiliate Program

Private Sector Co-development

Cirrus
Programs Program

Cirrus Consortium

Wits University

Academic / Research
Institutions

Government
Forthcoming
- Cirrus Consortium rollout
- Invitations to academic / research institutions
- From September 2020 onwards

- Investment Banking team

- Private sector engagement
- During the course of 2021

- Wits / Cirrus briefing

- Slated for March 2021 at Wits
- Dependent on the virus situation
Documentation
- Launch Presentation, September 2019
- https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnGNabcctTWNimTxvFAKqQwZ-3SW?e=zMgJIu

- Two Page Handout

- https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnGNabcctTWNjTrmq4dAa4REHcmc?e=3ulWVp

- Interview with Synapse Magazine, May 2020

- https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnGNabcctTWNjUJ9riqjmSm-dp7B?e=UiebhJ
In collaboration with:
Side note: MLPerf
- MLPerf
- Fair and useful benchmarks for measuring training and
inference performance of ML hardware, software, and https://mlperf.org
services.
Side note: MLPerf
• MLPerf Training continues to grow exponentially:
• 30+ results in the first round
• 60+ in the second
• 130+ in this latest round
https://mlperf.org
• Doubled the number of submitters including:
• Alibaba
• Dell EMC
• Fujitsu
• Google
• Inspur
• Intel
• NVIDIA
• Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology,
• Tencent
• The fastest results on the five unchanged benchmarks increased by an average of 2.7x!
• New benchmarks
• DLRM for industrial scale recommendation
• BERT natural language model
• Revised MiniGo to use a full 19x19 board
Contact

www.cirrusai.net

@AiCirrus

@cirrusai

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cirrus-ai