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Third Training Session of the DigiUni Project Held in Spain
08/06/2024
Third Training Session of the DigiUni Project Held in Spain
From June 3-7, the University of Alicante (UoA)/ Universitat d'Alacant / Universidad de Alicante/
in Spain hosted the third training session of the EU Erasmus+ program project "Digital University — Open Ukrainian Initiative" (DigiUni), highlighting the best practices from UoA.
The event was attended by representatives from partner Ukrainian universities, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian IT Professionals Association.
The event was attended by representatives from partner Ukrainian universities, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian IT Professionals Association.
The third DigiUni project session took place at the University of Alicante, a relatively young yet
modern institution founded in 1979 and based on the Central European University (CEU).
Currently, the University has about 40,000 students. It has prioritized digital transformation,
sustainability, equal opportunities, and the improvement of higher education and research as part of
its development strategy.
On the first day, participants were welcomed by Mario Guillo, the DigiUni Project Manager at the
University of Alicante, Juan Llopis, the Director of Institutional Relations and Projects, and
Carolina Madeleine, the Director of the Institutional Project Management Office (OGPI).
Carolina Madeleine expressed her enthusiasm, stating:
"We are delighted to welcome you to this event, the third training under the DigiUni project. Your
visit has been prepared with a lot of care. will have an overview of the experience of the University
of Alicante in intellectual property (IP), which is one of our strengths, as well as in digitalization.
Our main partners in the work packages are Mariupol State University and Kherson State
University.
We are very Ukrainian in heart and spirit. Out of the 33 staff members in our office, three are from Ukraine. They have been working with us for many years and are our friends.
Since the beginning of this project, when the proposal came to us from the coordinating institution, we were working to make the project successful and collaborating with the draft of the proposal. We have put a lot of emphasis into making this project successful and think it is relevant for all of us. We hope to learn from you, from your experience, from what you are going through, and in turn, we will be able to share our experience with you. You will also get to see our beautiful city of Alicante and enjoy your time here.
If you want to do an internship within the project or propose another type of cooperation, we will be very happy.
Any kind of idea can make a beautiful project. As we have a drafting team, we will support you. If you have a specific idea and would like to share it with us, we will be happy to help."
We are very Ukrainian in heart and spirit. Out of the 33 staff members in our office, three are from Ukraine. They have been working with us for many years and are our friends.
Since the beginning of this project, when the proposal came to us from the coordinating institution, we were working to make the project successful and collaborating with the draft of the proposal. We have put a lot of emphasis into making this project successful and think it is relevant for all of us. We hope to learn from you, from your experience, from what you are going through, and in turn, we will be able to share our experience with you. You will also get to see our beautiful city of Alicante and enjoy your time here.
If you want to do an internship within the project or propose another type of cooperation, we will be very happy.
Any kind of idea can make a beautiful project. As we have a drafting team, we will support you. If you have a specific idea and would like to share it with us, we will be happy to help."
On the first day, participants were introduced to the intellectual property (IP) basics, innovations, IP
licensing, and approaches to IP protection in Horizon and Erasmus projects and received advice on
creating their IP policies.
This was followed by a meeting with Rafael Molina, the Vice-Rector for Digital Transformation at
the University of Alicante, where the digital transformation experience of the University was
presented, including an introduction to the UACloud platform, the KhipuLearn project, and a
campus tour.
Participants also learned about the University of Alicante's training programs for teachers and
educational projects such as T4EU (Transform for Europe), Our Digital Village, and MEEBAI.
Oleh Pasko, a lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University, shared his impressions:
"Over four intensive days, we explored innovative projects at the University of Alicante,
particularly those related to the development of digital educational platforms (UACloud Platform,
KhipuLearn project), various training programs for UoA staff, and EU-funded projects. The last
day was dedicated to bilateral meetings and parallel sessions to develop the content of the project's
work packages.
A few personal reflections.
Secondly, I was once again convinced of the substantial development boost universities gain by participating in alliances of European universities. UoA is a member of the Transform4Europe Alliance, which aims to create an integrated European university. This alliance contributes to the consolidation of the European educational space, the preservation of cultural heritage, the preparation of entrepreneurs, and the resolution of major civilizational challenges through education and research.
Thirdly, I was impressed by the UoA library, which can accommodate more than 900 people simultaneously across three floors. Based on our empirical estimates, no fewer students actually use it, turning the library into the heart of University life.
Fourthly, the experience of the development and operations of the University of Alicante's Project Management Office was enlightening, thanks to Mario Guillo, who provided deeper insights during non-training hours. The OGPI Institutional Project Management Office - University of Alicante is a department dedicated to promoting and managing international projects with a focus on the Erasmus+ CBHE program. The office employs over 30 people representing 10 nationalities; though only four positions are university-funded, with the rest being self-financed. Since its establishment in the early 2000s with just two staff members, the office has expanded to 32, largely due to funding from EU projects."
A few personal reflections.
Secondly, I was once again convinced of the substantial development boost universities gain by participating in alliances of European universities. UoA is a member of the Transform4Europe Alliance, which aims to create an integrated European university. This alliance contributes to the consolidation of the European educational space, the preservation of cultural heritage, the preparation of entrepreneurs, and the resolution of major civilizational challenges through education and research.
Thirdly, I was impressed by the UoA library, which can accommodate more than 900 people simultaneously across three floors. Based on our empirical estimates, no fewer students actually use it, turning the library into the heart of University life.
Fourthly, the experience of the development and operations of the University of Alicante's Project Management Office was enlightening, thanks to Mario Guillo, who provided deeper insights during non-training hours. The OGPI Institutional Project Management Office - University of Alicante is a department dedicated to promoting and managing international projects with a focus on the Erasmus+ CBHE program. The office employs over 30 people representing 10 nationalities; though only four positions are university-funded, with the rest being self-financed. Since its establishment in the early 2000s with just two staff members, the office has expanded to 32, largely due to funding from EU projects."
Iryna Zbyr, an Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Applied Linguistics and Senior Expert of the International Office of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv said:
"Within the 'Digital University - Open Ukrainian Initiative (DigiUni)' project, the training at the
University of Alicante was filled with interesting lectures on the digitalization of the educational
process and the protection of intellectual property rights for academic staff.
Colleagues from the University of Alicante shared their experience and developments. This training also provided an opportunity to discuss important issues and make constructive decisions for the project's future work.
I am grateful to the organizers and coordinator of the DigiUni project @ Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv for the opportunity to participate."
Colleagues from the University of Alicante shared their experience and developments. This training also provided an opportunity to discuss important issues and make constructive decisions for the project's future work.
I am grateful to the organizers and coordinator of the DigiUni project @ Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv for the opportunity to participate."
Alla Tsapiv, Vice-Rector of Kherson State University, highlighted the opportunities provided by
digitalization for participants in the educational process at the University of Alicante:
"The idea of creating a digital university is ambitious and complex, so it is important to first study
the experience of our European partners to avoid mistakes and create a quality product. Therefore,
the second work package of the project includes training sessions at partner universities focused on
studying their digital services and platforms practices. The University of Alicante is advanced in
creating digital content and resources, allowing for quality education and providing necessary
educational services. There are training sessions for teachers to enhance their digital competence.
Over 100 specialists work on the development of digital services at the University of Alicante,
enabling rapid and effective service development. For example, the UACloud service hub provides
access to necessary information, services, educational materials, additional resources, scientific
and research activities, document creation training (such as CVs), alumni communication, and
plagiarism checks.
Many digital tools utilize artificial intelligence, such as automatically translating educational audiovisual content and creating subtitles in the required language. These can also be implemented during the development of the platform and content in the project."
Many digital tools utilize artificial intelligence, such as automatically translating educational audiovisual content and creating subtitles in the required language. These can also be implemented during the development of the platform and content in the project."
Mario Guillo, DigiUni Project Manager at the University of Alicante, shared insights about the
training content and expected outcomes:
"Our office was in charge of preparing this session in Alicante, focusing on intellectual property
training (IT) and introducing participants to our IT infrastructure.
br> On the first day, we taught the basics of IP, needed for developing our IP policy within the framework of the DigiUni project. On the second day, we shared our experience and practice in the development of the IT infrastructure at the University of Alicante.
UACloud is the name of our main infrastructure, our main platform for this. We also presented institutional and international projects we have in the very specific field of IT development. Of course, we prepared cultural events for our Ukrainian guests to make them feel at home. It was a pleasure to prepare for this training, and we are really grateful that you were with us these days.
Each university has its own experience within the DigiUni project; in our consortium, we are at different stages. We have been developing our platforms for 20 years, using different strategies. We tried different platforms, different things, and different strategies. Now we know what worked best for us. We are ready to share this experience.
Some participants were more interested in projects working with artificial intelligence, others in specific IT infrastructures for students, for managing academic staff or non-academic staff. It all depends on the partners' needs and their roles in the project work packages.
The idea of creating a whole ecosystem, trying to bring together not only Ukrainian universities but also building bridges with other European universities, is, in my opinion, amazing. I think it's a very powerful idea that we need to implement. I believe that over these four years, we will get to know each other, and exchange our knowledge and experience in specific fields. And I think such an ecosystem is key. And it's good because it expands to other European universities, providing more opportunities for students and teachers."
br> On the first day, we taught the basics of IP, needed for developing our IP policy within the framework of the DigiUni project. On the second day, we shared our experience and practice in the development of the IT infrastructure at the University of Alicante.
UACloud is the name of our main infrastructure, our main platform for this. We also presented institutional and international projects we have in the very specific field of IT development. Of course, we prepared cultural events for our Ukrainian guests to make them feel at home. It was a pleasure to prepare for this training, and we are really grateful that you were with us these days.
Each university has its own experience within the DigiUni project; in our consortium, we are at different stages. We have been developing our platforms for 20 years, using different strategies. We tried different platforms, different things, and different strategies. Now we know what worked best for us. We are ready to share this experience.
Some participants were more interested in projects working with artificial intelligence, others in specific IT infrastructures for students, for managing academic staff or non-academic staff. It all depends on the partners' needs and their roles in the project work packages.
The idea of creating a whole ecosystem, trying to bring together not only Ukrainian universities but also building bridges with other European universities, is, in my opinion, amazing. I think it's a very powerful idea that we need to implement. I believe that over these four years, we will get to know each other, and exchange our knowledge and experience in specific fields. And I think such an ecosystem is key. And it's good because it expands to other European universities, providing more opportunities for students and teachers."
The project coordinator from Ukraine, Sergiy Bronin (Taras Shevchenko National University of
Kyiv), summarized the results of the training in Alicante:
"The training in Alicante is our third session, giving us a basis for comparison with the previous
ones. Of course, it's not about competition and determining winners. The philosophy of DigiUni is
to combine the efforts of different partners to achieve a global common result. Recognizing that
partners vary in strength and contributions, and may see each other as competitors, our mission is to
eliminate these contradictions, leverage the strengths of each partner, and develop a unified digital
education system that addresses the collective needs of all partners as well as individual
requirements. This includes future participants who are not yet part of the project.
This training was organized at a first-class level, achieving all the stated training goals and addressing unconventional training topics, such as copyright, in which the University of Alicante (UoA) is historically strong. One of the primary goals of the entire training program is to gain unique experiences from partners, experiences that may not be available elsewhere or may be explored to a deeper extent compared to other partners, aiming to adopt the best European practices. Today, we seem to be building our digital university, selecting the highest quality materials that match the climate of the specific area (filling the training with materials on creating digital courses, joint use of digital platforms, etc.), and laying the foundation with the strongest materials brought from different parts of the world (exclusive training topics from each European partner).
Special thanks should be given to the training organizers for creating parallel sessions and the opportunity to work on preparing the next work package in person, with the presence of all responsible Ukrainian and European partners. The ability to engage in face-to-face discussions, make joint decisions, and establish direct eye contact has become a luxury for Ukrainians, lost during the pandemic and hindered from fully restoring due to russia's aggression."
This training was organized at a first-class level, achieving all the stated training goals and addressing unconventional training topics, such as copyright, in which the University of Alicante (UoA) is historically strong. One of the primary goals of the entire training program is to gain unique experiences from partners, experiences that may not be available elsewhere or may be explored to a deeper extent compared to other partners, aiming to adopt the best European practices. Today, we seem to be building our digital university, selecting the highest quality materials that match the climate of the specific area (filling the training with materials on creating digital courses, joint use of digital platforms, etc.), and laying the foundation with the strongest materials brought from different parts of the world (exclusive training topics from each European partner).
Special thanks should be given to the training organizers for creating parallel sessions and the opportunity to work on preparing the next work package in person, with the presence of all responsible Ukrainian and European partners. The ability to engage in face-to-face discussions, make joint decisions, and establish direct eye contact has become a luxury for Ukrainians, lost during the pandemic and hindered from fully restoring due to russia's aggression."
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