The Cuban University of Computer Science (UCI) marks its 18 years today as a fundamental pillar in the computerization of society, technological sovereignty and the development of a better future of communications.
 
This house of higher studies was the idea of ​​the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and he inaugurated its first school year on September 23, 2002 to graduate engineers in computer science.
 
For 17 years, the university has certified 1,5,52 computer engineers and currently trains more than 3,500 students.
 
With six faculties and 11 development centers, engineering degrees are also taught in bioinformatics, cybersecurity and network administration and computer security.
 
Among the many programs conceived there are the Nova system, a Cuban distribution of GNU / Linux that promotes the values ​​of sovereignty and technological independence, and are national leaders in the country's migration to Free Software and Open Source technologies.
 
It has two magazines of its own: the Cuban of Computer Science and the Scientific Series, specialized in Computer Science and Computing.
 
At the UCI they have developed applications with great acceptance in Cuba such as toDus and Apklis, both designed to work on the mobile phone data network and developed in conjunction with the Cuban Telecommunications Company (Etecsa).
 
Through Apklis, during the Covid-19 pandemic on the island, the population can download different applications for national use like online payments, data consultation of the pandemic and one known as MiClaseTV where students download teleclasses, free of charge.
 
Another of the achievements of this university, amidst the effects of SARS-CoV-2, is the Virtual Investigator, whose access, through the website of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, is also free of charge for anyone who owns a smartphone with an Android operating system.
 
The initiative is a complement to the active research process carried out by the National Health System in the context of the epidemiological confrontation with Covid-19.
 
Recently, a team from the UCI received the International and Regional Cooperation Award given during the Forum of the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS) belonging to the International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations.
 
The award was for the Scratchers Cuba project, which is part of the Third Improvement of the National Educational System, in which transformations are carried out in the study plans in primary education.
 
The tool allows you to create games, interactive stories, and multimedia animations using a visual programming environment so that students easily learn math and computer concepts.