“Asian Hackathon” IT-marathon was held in ASU

International conference dedicated to Software Freedom Day took place in ASU B.N. Yeltsin President Library on September 19.

“Asian Hackathon” IT-marathon had started at 1 pm and lasted till the late evening with a coffee break.

The organizing committee of the conference consisted of Vice-Rector for International Affairs Developement R.I. Raikin, Director of IT Department M.A. Ryazanov, Assistant Professor of Department of Applied Informatics in Economy and Public Management A.Yu. Yudintsev, Assistant Professor of Department of Radio Physics and Theoretical Physics V.V. Sherbinin, Assistant Professor of Department of Radio Physics and Theoretical Physics N.V. Volkov, Director of Equipment and User Support Office E.V. Davydov, engineer of Department of Radio Physics and Theoretical Physics I.A. Shmakov. The Committee Chairman was Vice-Dean of Faculty of Physics and Technology for educational work A.A. Shaidurov.

The conference hosted students from Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries, and leading specialists in IT field. Within the framework of the event, speakers and listeners were exchanging their personal experience in software development and commercialization. For example, it was interesting to learn the difference between free and open source software.

“Within the framework of the conference, the experience of using the open source software for the purpose of scientific research is of particular interest. It is not always cost efficient to buy commercial software for the research, it requires big financial investment. Most often, the open source software products are not less functional than the commercial ones. Moreover, due to the open code, the features of such software can be even wider. Importantly, any specialist can change the functional modular structure as consistent with the need of their own research”, - states Alexander A. Shaidurov.

He also added that the software development and usage is a topical issue for our University, because it aims for the active elaboration of scientific research in different fields. It is much more advantageous to use not only commercial software products, but also open ones.

As for the conference itself, it had been operating annually for 7 years already in the form of competitions and workshops, but this year it was the first time the event has become international has gained higher quality and status.