The Pro-President for Digital Transformation and Pedagogical Innovation at the Polytechnic of Beja, João Paulo Barros, highlights the benefits of this higher education institution's collaboration with the Unit FCCN, emphasizing the role of updating the connection to the national education and research network, within the scope of the RCTS100* project.
#1 What is the significance and impact of the activation of the Beja Polytechnic Institute (IPBeja) connection to the national 100 Gbps education and research network?
It is widely recognized that internet connection is an extremely important service for the functioning of today's society, becoming even more important in the context of higher education. The connection of IPBeja to the national education and research network at 100 Gbps is therefore extremely relevant at two levels: both contributing to the infrastructure of the national network and for a more effective and efficient pursuit of all its tasks as a public institution of education and research.
More specifically, a higher speed of internet access is an obvious asset for the activities of students and the entire academic community. Whether in teaching, research, or even in the management and administration of the institution, it will allow a better and faster access to the ever growing diversity of contents, namely texts, videos and audio, as well as a quantitative and qualitative increase of collaborative work inside and outside the institution. This is fundamental for distance education, a catalyst for new teaching-learning practices and a determining factor for research work, which depends on access to a maximum of content and communication between researchers.
#2 What importance and impact do the digital services and projects of the FCCN Unit have on the day-to-day life of the IPBeja community?
IPBeja has had a long and fruitful collaboration with FCCN , which has resulted in a number of important benefits for the institution. Firstly, by providing quality Internet access. And secondly, by providing access to a range of services and computer applications for the entire school community. This has taken on particular importance during the recent pandemic, allowing for greater quality in teaching practice and in all collaborative work, including research activities. We would highlight the eduroam network, the Colibri/zoom service, the indexing of IPBeja's scientific repository and access for students and teachers to publications from scientific publishers through the online knowledge library(b-on.pt).
#3 Is there anything you would like to add?
It is also important to emphasize the importance of an entity such as FCCN , which offers, facilitates and promotes the creation, identification, updating and maintenance of a multitude of digital services for all higher education institutions, thus contributing to greater inter-institutional collaboration and a better quality of national education and research.
* Project co-financed by the Technical Assistance Operational Program, Portugal 2020 and the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund.
