At a time when the country and the world are closed, facing a pandemic, the annual meeting point for the various communities of managers and users of the advanced computing, communication, and other digital services platforms provided by FCCN has suffered an expected postponement.
Initially scheduled for April 21st, 22nd and 23rd, the 2020 Scientific Computing Conferences were scheduled to take place this week.
Since it is not possible to hold this annual meeting, new dates have been scheduled and we hope to be able to bring the community together in Leiria on the following days: October 13, 14 and 15.
Still, to mark what would have been the original date of the event, we leave some highlights about some of our services.
The RCTS CERT Team highlights the DNS Firewall service: a mechanism that makes it difficult for systems to be infected by malware, since when the resolution of malicious domain names is requested, the response obtained through the DNS protocol is altered.
They are like this prevented infections from malicious domains, already identified and categorized, presenting users an alert page. The list, which is updated daily, is built based on several credible international sources of information and on RCTS CERT’s own activity.
Subscription to the service is free and can be completed via the address dnsfw@fccn.pt (indicating only which public IPv4 and IPv6 IP networks the entity is intended to protect).
Finally, RCTS CERT invites all institutions that are part of RCTS to test the level of preparation of their users by carrying out a simulation of a campaign. phishing, which can be requested through info@cert.rcts.pt.
Distance Learning and Training for Large Audiences
While we don't intend to reveal the surprises of watching the 2020 Jornadas live in Leiria, we aim to raise expectations for those days in October. We're sharing the current situation at NAU.
New Website
One of the key points is the development of NAU's new home, a responsive website that provides a better user experience, quick access to the platform's courses, and, naturally, attracts organic traffic for greater publicity of the offerings available, as well as the project's partner entities.
Authentication mechanisms
The aim is to expand the user profile, thus allowing the accommodation of electronic identification mechanisms – citizen card, digital mobile key (RCTSaai, ORCid, PTCris) and professional attribute certification system.
The platform's authorization mechanisms will allow the inclusion of personal and professional attributes so that certificates can be generated in accordance with current regulations in Portugal.
Certificates in PDF format
In addition to this development, work is underway on the possibility of producing certificates in PDF format, which will allow for greater accuracy and printing control. These files, in addition to containing the necessary user and course data, will be digitally signed, thus ensuring their integrity.
Some NAU numbers
Speaking of numbers, to date, we have 21 participating organizations and more than 100 courses available over time. There are approximately 59,000 users, which represent more than 83,000 enrollments.
NAU usage data available at https://www.fccn.pt/estatisticas
Project continuity
In 2019, a new application was submitted to address a set of needs. This new project, identified as FAN – Ferramentas Avançadas NAU (Advanced NAU Tools), has several areas of action.
NAU highlights issues of interest to the distance learning community. The best practices offered by NAU member institutions are difficult to replicate in a massive, open course. It is with this in mind that documentation and training are being developed to enable changes in mindsets current, whether from the face-to-face context – such as higher education teachers – or from traditional training contexts, in an online environment.
MOOCs have a strong workforce participation rate. Given their characteristics—namely, time availability—course production must have a different structure and communication to keep learners engaged and motivated.
The NAU Team hopes to be able to discuss all of this and much more in person at the 2020 Conference, as, in addition to this news, there is still much to share.
THE National Advanced Computing Network also brings some news at this stage. The first is about Deucalion, the supercomputer that will be installed in Riba d'Ave, at the Minho Advanced Computing Centre (MACC), and which will reinforce the country's advanced computing capacity in 2020/2021.
Deucalion represents a significant increase in available computing power in Portugal. It will provide easier access to the entire national scientific and technological community for work in the fields of intensive computing, data science, and artificial intelligence.
Thus, another step was recently taken in the financing process, following the agreement for the installation already signed and approved in 2019.
It is worth remembering that this project is part of the EuroHPC – European High Performance Computing initiative and the installation of this supercomputer is part of an application led by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).
If the Conference were held now, the Advanced Computing session would share some usage metrics for the supercomputer Bob. A curious fact is related to the number of hours used: over 12 million hours were recorded. core.hours from the beginning of the pilot phase in July 2019 until March 2020.
Some data on the use of the Bob (MACC) and Cirrus (INCD) clusters:
Monthly usage evolution (core_CPU x hour):
*In December 2019, the LUSTRE file system (Bob supercomputer file system) was updated.
**In 2020-03, special social isolation measures were implemented, such as the closure of universities and schools, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Monthly evolution in the number of distinct users:
Evolution of electrical power dissipated by clusters:
Another new development, resulting from the current situation we are all experiencing, is the participation of RNCA in the FCT competition for Research & Development Projects: “AI 4 COVID-19: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration to Strengthen the Fight against COVID-19 and Future Pandemics – 2020”.
This call falls within the National Digital Skills Initiative e.2030, Portugal INCoDe.2030 (namely in Axis 5 – Research) and aims, in line with the provisions of the National Plan for Preparedness and Response to the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), to promote projects in the area of Data Science that contribute to improving the responses of Public Administration bodies to the impacts of the current COVID-19 outbreak, as well as future pandemics.
Finally, one last piece of news concerns the new page dedicated to information about the RNCA, hosted at fccn.pt. This is scheduled to go live in the coming days, so all interested parties will need to do is keep an eye on the FCCN website.
Arquivo.pt Award
Arquivo.pt isn't just a service dedicated to the past; it also has much to share about the present. To begin with, the 3rd edition of the renowned Arquivo.pt Award is underway, with the application period closing on May 4th.
As you know, the Prize recognizes works on any topic that use Arquivo.pt as a source of information. These works may be team or individual projects.
The application requires a 2,000-word text on the project and a 3-minute video. The first prize is worth €10,000, with prizes for second and third place winners, as well as an honorable mention from the newspaper PÚBLICO, if any submitted work focuses on the web archive in relation to Público online.
An external, multidisciplinary jury will assist in the decision: Helena Freitas in Biology; Maria Beatriz Marques in Information Science; Miguel Fontes in Sociology and Management; Paulo Bastos in Communication and Technology; and Teresa Firmino in Science Communication.
Winners will be announced in November during the Science Meeting 2020.
More information at arquivo.pt/premio2020.
Time Travel
Several Timelines have already been developed together with entities that, on the occasion of the celebration of anniversaries, with the help of Arquivo.pt, created authentic journeys through Time.
Thus, on the occasion of the celebration of its 30 years of activity, PÚBLICO selected a set of pages that reflect the passing of the years and in collaboration with Arquivo.pt we can thus have access to a timeline and travel a little through the last 30 years of the life of this famous newspaper.
Visit PUBLIC Timeline in arquivo.pt/30anospublico.
Special Collection European Elections 2019
The Arquivo.pt team also worked on a special collection dedicated entirely to the European Elections. This compilation includes content in 24 languages.
Traveling exhibitions Arquivo.pt
(Before and after quarantine)
The past of the Portuguese web has been on display in various locations across the country since January 2019. This traveling exhibition shows visitors some of the most emblematic pages of Portugal's recent history, preserved at Arquivo.pt.
THE first home page of the RTP website or the Expo 98 page are some examples of the pages on display, also containing information about the Portuguese web archive and the 2020 edition of the Arquivo.pt Award.
Arquivo.pt also informs that this is a traveling exhibition. Those interested in hosting this collection of materials in their city or institution, can contact and submit the request.
Arquivo.pt Memorial
The Arquivo.pt Memorial service offers high-quality preservation of content from websites that are no longer updated, with the possibility of maintaining the original domain.
There are websites that are no longer updated with new content, but that must be kept online because they provide important information, such as websites for completed projects.
For example, the domain www.umic.pt remains active, pointing to a preserved version on Arquivo.pt. Those responsible for this site no longer have to maintain the infrastructure that supported it (e.g., servers, electricity, content management system), and instead maintain only the active domain.
This service is available to anyone who wants to submit their website to the Arquivo.pt Memorial. Requests to include websites in the memorial may be addressed to the team Arquivo.pt.
New Arquivo.pt Training Module
Arquivo.pt promotes knowledge-sharing initiatives in the area of preservation and research on information preserved on the Web. The main objectives of these initiatives are:
- maximize the productivity of its users in operating the service
- raise awareness among web content authors about the importance of preserving their digital heritage
The new module "Website Preservation: Do-It-Yourself" has been added to the existing training plans. This new module is aimed at Information and Communication Professionals.
More information at arquivo.pt/formacathe.
Special Collections Corona Virus
Unable to ignore the phase we are all going through, and so that later it may be possible to revisit much of the information that has been generated, Arquivo.pt will preserve special Corona Virus collections, both internationally, in collaboration with the IIPC – International Internet Preservation Consortium, and nationally.
The collection of these contents, at an international level, is composed of:
- 3,064 addresses selected
- 1,237 (40%) suggested by Arquivo.pt mainly in Portuguese through a semi-automatic process
- International collection collections starting March 23
- with/iipc-corona
The national collection consists of:
- 104 addresses for daily collection during the crisis starting March 27
- 236 addresses for unique but exhaustive collection: Twitter
- 135 YouTube videos
New version of Arquivo.pt launched on April 15th (WebApp)
One A brand new version of Arquivo.pt called WebApp has been launched on April 15, 2020. The goal of this new version is to standardize the user experience across different devices and reduce maintenance costs by removing components with redundant functions.
The main novelty of this new version is the combination of interfaces desktop and mobile in a single user interface, with the version desktop disabled and enabling the mobile version to work across multiple device types and screen sizes
Everyone is invited to test it, it would be a user testing is a valuable help on different devices!
To provide feedback on this new version to the Arquivo.pt team, simply send it to contacto@arquivo.pt.
Video Technical Services
Colibri and educast have been a valuable support in terms of training for Distance Learning in Higher Education and have been in high demand during this pandemic phase.
So, we leave some data on the use of these services, during this phase and an interesting comparison in relation to the same periods in the previous year:
Totals during the Covid-19 Crisis, between March 11 and April 19, 2020:
Meetings/Classes: 218,540
Participants: 3,960,005
Comparison:
During 2019 there was an average use of 124 meetings per day
Now we are always above the 9.500 meetings per day
During 2019 we had an average usage of 827 daily users
Now we are always above the 200.000 per day
Totals during the Covid-19 Crisis, March 2020:
Educast (March 2020):
Videos produced: 2,748 (throughout 2019 we had a total of 2,179)
New users: 10,223
Views: 418,928
Channels created: 961
Finally, we would like to remind you that we have 34 sponsors and 4 supporters support our annual event, to whom we are very grateful.
We can only wait with enthusiasm for the in-person holding of our Conferences and be able to count on the entire community of October 13-15, at the Polytechnic of Leiria. See you soon!
