At the end of this month, dstelecom marks the end of public funding for two innovation projects, Netedge and K2D, and the start of its own investment in them.

With a duration of almost 3 years, they resulted in several advances in the areas of edge computing and smart submarine cables. For this reason, dstelecom decided to extend the projects and continue to invest financially in them, as strategic pillars for the future of the organization.

At Netedge, which aims to implement an edge computing system on a fixed fiber optic network, the working group, made up of dstelecom, Bee Engineering, Fapajal Papermaking, bysteel fs, Minho University and by the Instituto de Telecomunicações, successfully completed an experimental pilot of 3 geographically distributed edge computing nodes on the dstelecom network. In addition, it developed a Multi-Access Edge Ccomputing (MEC) system based on the MANO open source software.

The major disruption to the project was related to the adaptation of MANO to a fixed network and the ability to manage multiple telecommunications operators, a necessary requirement to make it compatible with dstelecom's multi-operator business model. For these reasons, the solution developed by the consortium also includes a strong ecological component, as multiple resources are shared in a single infrastructure, reducing the environmental footprint.

With this commitment, dstelecom hopes to leverage new business models, and is already exploring the potential for implementing and evolving the concept in the market.

With regard to K2D, an acronym for "Knowledge and Data from the Deep to the Space", a project aimed at creating and developing technology for intelligent submarine cables, an experimental pilot was carried out in Infante D. Henrique Technological Free Zone, in Tróia, to test and validate the technology. The challenge consisted of executing a submarine node capable of coupling any sensor (temperature, pressure, pH, hydrophone, seismograph, etc.), which allows having different sensors per node and leaves it up to the cable operator, or its client, to monitor the variable you are interested in, allowing you to add or remove sensors as needed. In addition, the system has the ability to receive data, send it over the cable to the shore and then process it, so that the end user can access the records in real time.

The consortium, made up of dstelecom, University of Minho, INESC-TEC, CINTAL, University of the Azores, Air Centre, Alcatel Submarine Networks and the M.I.T., continues in close collaboration to proceed with the installation of a new submarine cable with 3 monitoring nodes, also on the ZLT Infante D. Henrique, at the end of the summer of the current year. In addition, the team seeks to bring together more and more national partners in order to create a national cluster with competences in the area of maritime telecommunications, and thus boost the sector.

The closing public sessions of Netedge and K2D will take place on the 27th and 30th of June, respectively, at the dst group campus, in Palmeira, Braga. Interested people can secure their spot by registering online here and/or here.