From October 19th to 21st, the community served by the FCCN Unit gathered at the Polytechnic of Leiria for another edition of the Scientific Computing Conference.
50 speakers, 27 sessions and 380 participantsThis is the final result of the 12th edition of the Scientific Computing Conference, an event that brought together the community served by the FCCN Unit for three days.
The objective was to to publicize the latest news on FCCN services and projects, as well as some of the new technological trends linked to the various pillars of action of this unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology: Computing, Knowledge, Security, Collaboration, Connectivity and Innovation.
The organization of this edition of Scientific Computing Conferences had the support of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL) who, during these three days, worked in conjunction with the FCCN Unit. “It was a great pleasure for us to host this event”, the IPL team highlighted during the closing session. Shortly afterward, the location of the next edition would be revealed – the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV) will host the Scientific Computing Conference in 2022. “Hosting this event will be a remarkable moment that we have been waiting for”, revealed, in a recorded message, the president of IPV, José dos Santos Costa.
One of the highlights of this edition of the Scientific Computing Conference took place during the afternoon of the second day, when professionals and specialists from the FCCN Unit held the Zapping FCCN event. In three-minute presentations, everyone present was able to learn about the main new features of FCCN services. In total, 15 quick presentations were made that outlined the current state of the FCCN Unit.
One of the new features for the 2021 edition of the Scientific Computing Conference was the implementation of an exercise Capture the Flag on the part of RCTS CERT. With a total duration of 24 hours, “Capture The Castle's Flag” involved 967 users and 630 teams who completed 27 challenges in areas such as crypto, forensics or network. The winning team, originally from India, solved 26 challenges, with the best Portuguese entries coming from teams from the University of Aveiro (24th place), the University of Porto (29th place and 35th place) and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (34th place).
Another regular attraction of this meeting is the "Send Bityte" contest – a challenge to all participants, inviting them to creatively share their connection with the FCCN Unit. In 2021, the victory went to Pedro Vapi, from the University of Coimbra, who won a smartwatch offered by Huawei, the contest sponsor. “I was surprised, but above all happy to participate in the Scientific Computing Conference”, revealed the winner, before concluding: “This is where I feel at home.”
At the end of the event, the assessment shared by the organization was very positive. “These conferences were a winning bet, with a very positive response from our community”, highlighted the General Coordinator of the FCCN Unit, João Nuno Ferreira, during the closing session, leaving a guarantee: “We will continue to work to communicate better with you.”
To remember the previous edition, in the Azores, we recommend reading the news published in 2019.
