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ULB’s Data Center kick-off ceremony & best greetings 2026!
January 21, 2026 – The Université libre de Bruxelles officially inaugurated its new Data Center in the presence of academic leaders, researchers and public authorities during a full-day event punctuated by conferences, research showcases and visits of the new infrastructure.
We are proud to host the new ULB’s Data Center, a unique shared equipment accessible in our premises as an innovation facility.
The new facility operationalizes both ULB’s critical IT infrastructure and cutting-edge research tools, including Hyperion, the university’s computing platform, and Lyra (CECI-ULB), a supercomputer dedicated to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Learn more about ULB’s Data Center
Co-funded to the tune of €1.7 million by the Walloon Region, this strategic investment strengthens digital sovereignty, research excellence and technological innovation in Wallonia and beyond.
The event began with a press conference featuring Annemie Schaus, Rector of ULB, who explained how this new Data Center, designed as a modern, secure, and sustainable facility, provides ULB and its partners with a scalable environment perfectly aligned with today’s scientific and digital challenges.
Built largely on open-source technologies, this data center represents a major step forward in terms of digital sovereignty and research capacity for the University and the academic world.
Research across all fields, from the humanities and social sciences to the exact sciences, including health, now has new opportunities to flourish. Through the CECI, the consortium of high-performance computing facilities, universities across the Federation Wallonia-Brussels can access advanced computing resources on this ULB-operated infrastructure to develop AI and big data models.
The press conference continued with presentations by Philippe Briat, Director of the IT Department at ULB, and Raphaël Leplae, Director of Technologies at ULB, who outlined the vision and capabilities of the new Data Center. Researchers also shared how they will leverage the facility, including:
- Axel Coussement, Aero-Thermo-Mechanics – New fuels and decarbonization
- Egor Zindy, Center for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging – Imaging, AI and diagnostics
- Marius Gilbert, Spatial Epidemiology Laboratory – Emergence and spread of diseases
Following the press conference, the day continued with a series of talks and discussions focused on the Data Center and its fields of application and featured interventions by researchers, academic authorities and politicians, highlighting the strategic role of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence across research, innovation, and public action.
The program was punctuated by a walking lunch and networking moments, offering participants further opportunities to discover the infrastructure and exchange with members of the ULB and A6K ecosystems.
The event was widely covered by the press. Read more in SudInfo, MediQuality, MyScience, RTBF & Télésambre.
