The network installation that made this possible, carried out by Ensul Meci (civil engineering specialists), included R&M fiber optic connection modules and racks, chosen for their high quality and design flexibility. Évora, located 130 km east of Lisbon in the heart of Portugal's Alentejo region, is the second largest region in Portugal and comprises 14 municipalities, with the medieval city of the same name as its capital. Until a few years ago, the region lacked a functional e-government platform infrastructure. There was no connection at the municipal level between services, which were often located in different buildings. There was no regional data center or intranet, and the town hall websites had not been adapted to offer online services, forcing residents and businesses to manage administrative procedures in person at the various offices or departments.

However, in September 2004, the ambitious EDD project was launched, led by the Association of Municipalities of the Province of Évora (AMDE) in partnership with the Alentejo Regional Development Agency (ADRAL), the University of Évora, the Provincial Tourism Agency (RTE), and the region's 14 municipalities. In less than three years, EDD established municipal broadband networks, a professional data center, and redesigned 14 municipal websites to a new platform and common navigation structure, as well as incorporating online services and intranets. In the city of Évora, for example, a high-speed metropolitan fiber optic network was implemented, connecting five different organizations spread across 11 buildings and enabling the data center to provide shared services such as VoIP, backup, recovery, and system monitoring.

The project, the largest of its kind in the province and considered a model for other European countries, has also developed numerous B2B and A2B portals (Business-to-Business and Administration-to-Business) to guide and inform visitors and investors in the region, including a professional tourism portal where agents can manage and update their information. Furthermore, to improve residents' access to services, the project built a mobile vehicle with satellite access, making the internet available even in rural areas, and created a network of local hotspots, offering new levels of mobility for residents and visitors of the region, as well as for students on the university campus.

All of this was made possible by the installation of MAN and LAN infrastructure by the Communications division of Ensul Meci, one of Portugal's largest civil engineering groups. Ensul Meci is a company based near Lisbon but operating globally in sectors such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, and water. The Communications division, specializing in the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of mobile and fixed communication networks, deployed over 500 km of fiber optic cable for the project. To ensure the reliability of operations from the outset, the engineers selected R&M's range of fiber optic distribution products, including approximately 180 LC splice closures and over 150 E2000‰ patch panel modules housed in about 30 19-inch/3U racks. These products were recommended and supplied by Lancom, R&M's certified distributors in Portugal, and were chosen for their quality, design, and ease of installation.

R&M's high capabilities in fiber optic technology have helped to bring information to the inhabitants of the area through metropolitan networks and Evora has joined the long list of e-Government projects in which R&M has participated throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

 

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Author:

Manuel González Buendia. Head of LAN networks (R&M Spain and Portugal)