On February 16, the Centro Ciência Viva, in Lisbon, hosted the inauguration event of the New Generation RCTS, achieved through the RCTS100 project.
- Project co-financed by the Operational Programme for Technical Assistance, Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund
At the Centro de Ciência Viva, representatives from teaching and research institutions gathered to celebrate the new generation of the Science, Technology, and Society Network (RCTS). The technological upgrade of the national teaching and research network was leveraged. by the RCTS100 project, a total investment of 17 million euros, 13 of which came from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), dedicated to “Strengthening research, technological development and innovation”.
"The RCTS100 project was one of the most important, most structuring and most consequential in the entire history that I know of FCCN," highlighted the general coordinator of the FCCN Unit, João Nuno Ferreira, adding that "RCTS is the cornerstone that holds, that forms the glue and dissolves the distance from all other services and all other infrastructures."
The Science, Technology, and Society Network (RCTS) is the digital connectivity and computing infrastructure aimed at the research and education community. It facilitates communication, collaboration, and the development of new scientific knowledge.
The new generation of RCTS combats the "digital divide" and has restructured FCCN's services, not only in connectivity but also in collaboration, security, and knowledge. During this process, it was possible to ensure the technological reinforcement of the local networks of nine public higher education institutions. Currently, the network reaches all district capitals, with thousands of kilometers of fiber optics.
A “before and after” of the RCTS100
"It's a project very dear to our hearts; it represents the backbone of science and universities and polytechnics in Portugal. Without it, it's very difficult to scale to any other type of digital science at the research level," explained FCT vice-president Francisco Santos, emphasizing that "from a networking perspective, there is a before and after of RCTS100. Before we had a Network that was completely concentrated on the coast, now we have an inclusive Network.”
"The implementation of the RCTS100 project has ensured a common communications platform, covering the entire national territory, reaching all district capitals, and guaranteeing the provision of the same set of advanced services to teaching and research institutions, regardless of their location," reinforced Ana Pinto, Director of the Networks Area at FCCN.
This equal access to the Network, regardless of the institution's location, combats the "digital divide"—which is technically characterized by differentiated access to services based on location. Some higher education institutions did not have access to the full RCTS connectivity service portfolio, which "placed them on an unequal footing, because there was a contrast and asymmetry in access to services," explained Ana Pinto.
An example of this inequality, which is now being mitigated, is that some entities went from 1Gbps internet connections to 100Gbps connections, a sharp increase in network and internet access capacity, and now have the possibility of activating multiple connections, at 10 or 100Gbps, dedicated to research projects, as described by the Director of the Network Service of the FCCN Unit, adding that, for entities to be able to take advantage of all this installed capacity, the internal network capacity of some HEIs was very important, also carried out within the scope of the RCTS100 project.
To date, the RCTS100 Project has had a very positive impact on institutions, largely reducing complaints from the educational community, as witnessed by the IT directors of several HEIs present at the event.
In the future, we aim to raise the necessary funding to bridge the “digital divide” that still exists in connections to the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores.
See some of the key moments of the event in the Gallery below.