In 2023, there were several achievements of more than 20 digital services that the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the FCCN unit, makes available to the national Teaching and Research community. Here are some milestones we highlight that have contributed to promoting “Technology for Knowledge”.
More than 600,000 higher education students and teachers used the Science, Technology and Society Network (RCTS) of the FCCN. By joining this national education network, the Research and Teaching community gained access to greater Communication, Collaboration, Security, and the development of new Scientific Knowledge.
Growth in the Connectivity area
They were more than 200 entities that in 2023 connected to the internet with speeds up to 100 Gbps, through RCTS IP, the data communication service that connects educational and scientific institutions to the global Internet. As for the Eduroam, a service that guarantees secure internet access to students, teachers, researchers and institutional collaborators, saw exponential growth in 2023, with around of 114 million authentications in roaming, which is equivalent to an evolution of 86.9% compared to 2022.
More impact on National Computing
Through the National Advanced Computing Network 42 million core hours were allocated for supercomputer research, 20% more than in 2022. Also the service RCTS Housing, which enables computer hosting in Datacenters, stood out in 2023, allowing them to be 116 racks are housed in this equipment.
More collaboration in the Teaching and Research community
The annual service balance Filesender was positive, highlighting the milestone of 112,000 Gigabits of shared multimedia content by the community.
In multimedia services, there were several highlights: the number of hours of recording on HD Studio grew compared to last year – 58,6% -, totaling 568 hours, and the service Videocast had 21 thousand hours of live event broadcasts, a number higher than the 14 thousand hours recorded in 2022. The Colibri was the stage for 1.3 million meetings and webinars over the last 12 months.
FCCN services enabled the creation of more knowledge in 2023
THE NAU, a pioneering e-learning platform in Portugal, featured 59,000 new users and 202,000 registrations for its online courses, with both values having increased compared to 2022. Arquivo.pt, which allows you to search and access preserved web pages, had 1.9 million page views in 2023, 100 thousand more than in 2022.
The service Educast, which offers the possibility of recording, editing and publishing educational videos, has grown, having been produced around 5 thousand videos. The online knowledge library b-on registered 20 million downloads of scientific articles in 2023. The RCAAP– Open Access Scientific Repositories in Portugal -, reached the milestone of 770,000 open access scientific contents, 100 thousand more than in 2022, and the service VITAE Science, national system for managing scientific curricula, registered approximately 11,500 new science CVs.
Security highlights in 2023
THE service RCTS CERT, responsible for managing cybersecurity incidents within the RCTS network, and the RCTS Certificates, which grants certification to entities, made a positive assessment. The first reported and validated 350 cybersecurity incidents, while RCTS Certificados issued 8,500 security certificates during the year.
More participants and speakers at FCCN Conference 2023
Finally, we highlight the evolution of the main annual event for the academic and research community, the FCCN Conferences. In the 2023 edition, the event had 569 participants, 11% more than in 2022. Over three days, 29 sessions took place and were present 32 sponsors. The initiative included 120 speakers, compared to the 37 who had participated in 2022.
These were just some of the many positive milestones for the FCCN unit in 2023. For the year that is now beginning, the ambition to continue promoting "Technology for Knowledge" remains.
