Yesterday, another edition of the MIT Portugal Follow Up Meeting, the follow-up forum for the MIT Portugal Flagship Projects, took place. In addition to the presentation of two innovation projects with dstelecom signature, the meeting was held, for the first time, outside the academic environment, on the campus of the dst group, reflecting the close collaboration between universities and companies.

MIT Portugal, a strategic international partnership between Portuguese universities and research institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Portuguese government, industry partners and other non-academic institutions, leverages the transfer of knowledge between associated entities and the development and promotion of projects of innovation developed in a co-promotion of the industry with the academic institutions. All this supported by 4 pillars, which are in harmony with dstelecom's strategy: climate change; earth systems: oceans and space; digital transformation in the manufacturing industry; and sustainable cities.

For this reason, in the 2nd half of 2020, dstelecom joined the project with Aeros and K2D which, after 3 years of development, are now close to completion (June 2023).

Within the scope of the Eros project, a nanosatellite capable of collecting multispectral images and communicating with sensors placed in places without connectivity was developed. In this way, it will make it possible to monitor the Portuguese coastal zone and develop technical skills associated with the aerospace sector. The next steps involve assembling the satellite, integrating all the components, followed by its launch and operation.

The K2D project, on the other hand, intends to create a new value proposition for the submarine cables sector, converting these data highways into sensitive networks, capable of to monitor the seabed. During the project's development period, the team developed a solution, meanwhile tested in the Tróia Technological Free Zone. At the moment, the consortium is developing a new prototype, which will be tested in the same location, but with larger dimensions and a greater number of sensors. follow-up meetings are held quarterly. To date, they have been promoted in academic institutions, having left, for the first time, the university, with this situation being hosted by dstelecom.

During the event, it was also possible to watch the main results of the remaining projects associated with this program, related to the space sector, telecommunications, sustainable cities, among others.

In retrospect, this MIT Portugal Follow Up Meeting proved to be an excellent forum for sharing ideas and inspiring new challenges. At the same time, he revealed that the two projects presented by dstelecom, among all those currently in execution, are those that represent a greater level of transformation and change compared to the company's status quo: K2D and Eros advanced solidly with tangible results that are in line with what was proposed at the beginning of the project.