From October 19 to 21, the community served by the FCCN Unit gathered at the Polytechnic of Leiria for another edition of the Scientific Computing Days.
50 speakers, 27 sessions and 380 participants. This is the final balance of the 12th edition of the Scientific Computing Days, an event that brought together the community served by the Unit for three days FCCN.
The aim was to showcase the latest services and projects at FCCN, as well as some of the new technological trends linked to the various pillars of action of this unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology: Computing, Knowledge, Security, Collaboration, Connectivity and Innovation.
The organization of this edition of the Jornadas de Computação Científica was supported by the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL) , which worked in conjunction with the Unit FCCN during these three days. "It was a great pleasure for us to host this event," said the IPL team during the closing session. Shortly afterwards, the destination of the next edition was revealed - the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV) will host the Scientific Computing Days in 2022. "Hosting this event will be a landmark moment that we are looking forward to," said the president of IPV, José dos Santos Costa, in a recorded message.
One of the highlights of this edition of the Jornadas de Computação Científica took place in the afternoon of the second day, when professionals and specialists from the FCCN Unit held a Zapping session FCCN. In three-minute presentations, all those present were able to learn about the main new features of the FCCN services. In total, there were 15 quick presentations that gave a snapshot of the Unit's current situation FCCN.
One of the novelties for the 2021 edition of the Days of Scientific Computing was the organisation of a Capture The Flag exercise by the RCTS CERT. With a total duration of 24 hours, "Capture The Castle's Flag" involved 967 users and 630 teams that carried out 27 challenges in areas such as crypto, forensics or networking. The winning team, from India, solved 26 challenges, and the best Portuguese participation came from teams from the University of Aveiro (24th position), University of Porto (29th position and 35th position) and Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (34th position).
Another of the usual attractions at this meeting is the "Send the Bityte" competition - a challenge issued to all participants that invites them to creatively share more about their connection with the Unit FCCN. In 2021, the winner was Pedro Vapi, from the University of Coimbra, who won a smartwatch offered by Huawei, the competition's sponsor. "I was surprised, but above all happy to take part in the Scientific Computing Days," said the winner, before concluding: "This is where I feel at home."
At the end of the event, the balance shared by the organization was very positive. "These days were a winning bet, with a very positive response from our community," said the General Coordinator of the FCCN Unit, João Nuno Ferreira, during the closing session, leaving a guarantee: "We will continue to work to communicate better with you."
To recall the previous edition, in the Azores, we recommend reading the news published in 2019.
