Reliability and Reproducibility in Computational Science: can we trust algorithms?

An open source toolkit for more reliable computer simulation results

The VECMA project (Verified Exascale Computing for Multiscale Applications) aims to raise the bar of confidence in computer simulation results, so that outputs can be actionable and lead to real outcomes. Back in 2018, we already introduced VECMA as a new EU Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) project. Its core mission was to design, develop and gradually release a generic software Toolkit which would allow users to rapidly integrate verification, validation and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) methods into scientific simulations, thereby assessing their trustworthiness.

 

Now, two years since its beginning, VECMA has achieved its goal of developing the Toolkit, known as VECMAtk, and making it open-source, so that it is widely available for researchers to use in European high-performance computing (HPC) centres. VECMAtk comprises 7 independent yet interrelated components which address aspects from deployment and execution through multiscale coupling to model validation. VECMAtk has its own dedicated website, where users can find information about its components, release history and tutorials illustrating the Toolkit’s capabilities with real applications.

 

Check the VECMA’s new video production that explains how VECMAtk can make it possible for scientific computer simulations to become trusted tools in the decision-making process for industrial scientists, policy makers and researchers in other sectors.

 

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash