The ParCo2019 conference was hosted by Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. This event marked thirty-six years of ParCo conferences. During the past decades the conference proved to be not only a mirror of the advances made in the development and use of parallel computing, but also a stimulator for advancing research and development of many new technologies.

During the opening session of the conference it was noted that 2019 also marked four decades of cluster computing. In 1979 a cluster system with a simple MIMD (Multiple Instruction Multiple Data) architecture using COTS (Components Off The Shelf) be-came operational. A short historical overview of the development and results obtained with the cluster system is given in the note titled: Four Decades of Cluster Computing included in these proceedings. The research done with this system brought about in-ternational cooperation involving a number of researchers. These international connections resulted in the start of the international ParCo conferences in 1983, which in turn initiated the journal Parallel Computing (Elsevier) and later the book series Advances in Parallel Computing (Elsevier and IOS Press).

The scientific program of the ParCo2019 conference consisted of invited talks, con-tributed papers and papers presented as part of symposia. The invited speakers were:

• Torsten Hoeffler: Performance Portability with Data-Centric Parallel Programming

• Thomas Lippert: Scalability, Cost-Effectiveness and Composability of Large-Scale Supercomputers through Modularity

• Ian Foster: Coding the Continuum (slides at www.parco.org/slides/Foster.pdf)

• Jaroslav Cervinka: High Performance Computing at Skoda Auto

• Mikhail Dyakonov: Will we ever have a quantum computer?

• Erik D’Hollander: Empowering Parallel Computing with Field Programmable Gate Arrays

• Jean-Pierre Panziera: Addressing the Exascale Challenges (slides at www.parco.org/slides/Panziera.pdf)

• Jean-Marc Denis: European Processor Initiative: The European Vision for Exascale Ages and Beyond (slides at www.parco.org/slides/Denis.pdf)

Two Invited Speakers chose to submit a paper for inclusion in the proceedings. In addition slides presented by three speakers are available on the ParCo Website.

Contributed papers presented at the conference were selected based on paper proposals. Submitted papers were reviewed in a first round prior to the conference and again in a second round at the presentation of the papers. The results and recommendations from the two review rounds were communicated to authors. Authors of accepted papers were given the option to submit a revised version of their paper. The proceedings thus only include papers that were accepted after their presentation at the conference. The papers ultimately selected for publication give a wide ranging overview of the current status of Parallel Computing research, developments and applications.

Four symposia were organised and presented as part of the conference. Organisers of Symposia were responsible for the reviewing of the respective papers presented and submitted for publication.

The Editors are indebted to all persons who assisted in making the conference a suc-cess. These include the staff at the registration desk and the technical staff who ensured the functioning of all equipment. A particular word of thanks is due to Siavash Ghiasvand from the Dresden University of Technology for his support in compiling the final version of the manuscript of these proceedings.

A final note needs mentioning: This is the first volume in the Advances in Parallel Computing book series that is published as an Open Access (OA) book, making the contents of the book freely accessible to everyone. The publication of the proceedings as an OA book does not change the indexing of the published material in any way.

Ian Foster

Gerhard Joubert

Luděk Kučera

Wolfgang Nagel

Frans Peters