Last Friday, the Supercomputing Center of Galicia (CESGA) and Balidea signed an agreement for the implementation of an ambitious educational innovation project, which aims to provide network infrastructure and services based on cloud computing in rural schools.

"Network of schools in the cloud" provides a model for infrastructure and services, as well as a methodology, all based on cloud computing, for teaching and collaboration between schools, creating a network in which educational experiences, materials and learning methods can be shared.

The previous project, "Rural Schools and cloud computing" was a CESGA pilot project, which was selected by HP Labs as one of the three most important in the field of cloud computing and education worldwide. This project was supported by the Government of Galicia, and the results were evaluated positively by the educational authorities and the school community, and was selected in the international event Educared 2011 as one of the 6 most innovative projects in early childhood education from the nearly 4,000 proposals entered.

BALIDEA's R & D department, together with CESGA, and taking the "Network of schools in the cloud" project as a start, want to take this a step further, providind a much larger number of children, teachers and schools, with the possibility of accessing cloud computing infrastructure and providing an environment of collaboration and learning between different schools.

Partnership Agreement

BALIDEA and CESGA reached a partnership agreement which will involve a knowledge transfer between the two organizations, as well as the commitment to develop an innovative and quality product that can help take the Galician company beyond its borders. This is a clear example of collaboration between the private sector and the Galician public research sector, that provides a direct benefit to society, as well as a commitment to the future for the creation and marketing of innovative products "made in Galicia".