The "Open Source" Concept

Open source software is software that is developed collaboratively by developers across the globe. The software itself is available at little or no cost. The source code (the human-readable version of the software) is distributed with the executable form, giving users of the software the freedom to modify, adapt and improve the software to meet their needs.

Automated recording system OpenEyA for traditional lectures
Using the automated and non-intrusive EyA system for the webcasting of physics and mathematics, all lectures delivered within the ICTP Diploma Course are recorded and are available at www.ictp.tv From 2007 to August to date (Aug 2015), ICTP's nearly 12,304 hours of online Diploma Programme lectures have received more than one million unique visitors. About 50% of viewers of the web courses comes from computers connected from India, China and Africa (mainly from Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda). These numbers suggest that the lectures, taught in English by ICTP scientists, are a useful learning resource for students in developing countries. Some parts of the world, however, are restricted both by language barriers and bandwidth constraints. To tackle these issues, SDU has implemented the Project "Dida'ctica para el Desarrollo" with educational scientific lectures in different languages by using the openEyA opens source software.
Didactica para el Desarrollo DxD.tv
The SDU "Didactic for Development" (in english) initiative with educational videos in Spanish and Portuguese only, aims to support Universities in Latin America and Portugal to create their own educational contents. The goal of DxD is to attain "Quality Education for All" and preserve "Cultural Diversity" in native languages by closely following the ICTP mandate. To date, Institution participants of the DxD.tv project are: University of Porto and Instituto Superior Te'cnico (IST), School of Science and Engineering, Portugal; ICTP-South American Institute of Fundamental Research, Brazil; National University of Colombia, Colombia; and University of Buenos Aires, Argentina;
openDante: High School Physics and Math Lectures On-line
The project openDante, carried out in collaboration with Prof A. Pisani from Liceo Classico Dante Alighieri (Gorizia) and SDU, is a concrete example of the application of openEyA in high school classrooms. openEyA has dramatically changed the way their students learn. The recordings provide a new, effective option for students to review and learn new concepts. Students like the fact that with openEyA recordings, they can re-listen to classroom lectures at home, and it helps increase their level of understanding. We hope to implement a similar project in some schools of developing countries to foster future generations of scientists.