THE NAU, a digital service of the Foundation for Science and Technology, developed by FCCN, has reached 500,000 registered users on the platform, during the month of November. This milestone joins another achieved in February of this year, that of 1 million course enrollments.
It was in this context that FCCN, the digital services unit of FCT, spoke with Pedro Cabral, service managerwhich explains The evolution of the platform in recent years and the reasons behind this achievement. – from technological robustness to the impact of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
The manager of NAU emphasizes that This growth exceeded all initial forecasts.By the end of 2022, already approaching the service's fourth anniversary, the growth trend was around 50,000 new users per year. In a post-COVID-19 pandemic phase, the major international MOOC platforms (Massive Open Online Courses Open and Massive Courses Online), which were once in high demand, began to experience a slowdown in growth as things returned to normal.
"At that time, we estimated that the annual trend of 50,000 new users would remain stable and that we would reach a total of 500,000 by the end of NAU's 10 years of existence, in 2029. Therefore, having reached the..." 500,000 users in less than 7 years is a decidedly positive sign.“explains Pedro Cabral.
Factors that explain success
The manager highlighted three key points that enabled this growth:
- A dedicated team to the mission of making knowledge accessible to all;
- The technological robustness of the platform, which allows it to respond to usage peaks, with moments that have already exceeded 4,000 simultaneous users;
- Ongoing support to users and course teams, ensuring confidence and quality in the experience.
Another determining factor was the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), which allowed for the strengthening of human resources and the expansion of services provided by NAU. "The numbers speak for themselves," emphasizes Pedro Cabral.
In 2024, NAU stabilized the The platform offers over 100 courses and has surpassed an annual average of 85,000 new users.In 2025, in addition to these milestones achieved, It is expected that we will exceed 150,000 new users by the end of the year. – triple the trend recorded three years ago.
A future with ambition
With these results, NAU reinforces its role as A strategic platform for institutions and organizations that invest in training. onlineCo-financed by the PRR, the initiative continues to work. to "go even further""That's all," concludes the service manager.
THE NAU is co-financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan. (PRR).
