Consorcio CIXUG collaborates with the Axencia para a modernización tecnolóxica de Galicia (AMTEGA) to spread open source software to Galician universities.

• Once again, CIXUG and AMTEGA signed a collaboration agreement to carry out actions to promote the use and dissemination of Open Source Software in the university environment in Galicia.

With the signature of this agreement between CIXUG and AMTEGA, the CIXUG Open Source Office will carry out several actions defined in two main activities: conferences and information stands and the award for the best university work with an open source licence.

Conferences and information stands

The activities will take place in the different Galician university campuses with themes that focus on two key areas: the impact of open source software in the business and professional environment and the methodologies and tools of open source software.

During September, several activities were held, including:

• GNU/Linux installation workshops for first-year students:
  • Mathematics Faculty. It took place on 20 September where two groups of students had technical consultations.
  • Faculty of Physics. It took place on 26 and 27 September.
  • Polytechnic School of Engineering on the campus of Lugo. It took place on 29 September.
• Attendance at the Atlántica Conf in the Faculty of IT at the University of A Coruña, presenting information about the services available at the OSL for university students.
• Two workshops about Git for students of the Robotics Degree, at the Lugo campus, were very well received by the students.

During October, information points will be set up in different parts of the Galician university campuses, where students can consult and learn about open-source software from experts in the area.

Best university work with an open-source licence award

The Best University Project with Open Source Licence Award seeks to promote and approach Galician University students to open source software, increasing their knowledge of this type of technology and, as a consequence, opening the doors to new possibilities of high-quality employment related to ICTs.

Any student matriculated in any of the engineering or technical engineering degrees, bachelor's or master's degrees of the Galician University System, who has presented and defended their Final Degree Project or Final Master's Project with a score of at least 5.0, in any of the official calls of the academic year 2022-2023, either common or extraordinary, can participate in the award, as long as the project was evaluated before the deadline.

In addition, to be eligible for this prize, the project must meet the conditions set out below:

• To have been realised with a non-commercial implementation of any programming language.
• Software developed during the course must have an open-source licence among those approved as such by the Free Software Foundation or the Open Source Initiative.
• The source code of the academic work should be made available in a public repository for downloading and study.

Also, projects that meet the requirements and use open-source hardware are eligible to participate.

All those interested have until 6 October to register through the registration form available on the CIXUG website.

These initiatives are part of the actions defined in the Galicia Digital 2030 Strategy, which constitutes a guide to support decision-making in the digital sphere over the next decade, helping to extrapolate ideas from current global trends, explore some of the key challenges that will shape the future of Galicia, and anticipate some of the choices and decisions that may be faced in the years ahead.