In 2021, the Ministry of Universities presented a digitalization plan for the university system, aiming to encompass innovation, transformation, and modernization of universities from a digital perspective. With a budget of €142.85 million in European funds, Unidigital is the name of the project created to address the following fundamental objectives:
1. To provide adequate technical, material, and human resources to modernize the Spanish university system and significantly improve the relationship between the digital world and academia.
2. To stimulate innovation and digital transformation from within universities, enabling them to become central players in digital transformation processes.
3. To develop strategic projects in the field of educational innovation that function as prototypes and operate at inter-university levels.
SIGMA as a propietary medium
The strategic lines into which Unidigital is divided include ICT infrastructure and services projects, software development projects, support measures, aid and incentives for digitalization and teaching, and strategic and coordination measures. Furthermore, the aim is to promote coordinated and centralized ICT resources and services for the entire system, and to foster innovation and digital transformation by placing universities at the heart of the processes.
SIGMA's role as a proprietary medium implies that the Partner Universities fully own the Group's share capital and delegate the management functions of a specific service to it, making it a functional unit of these institutions through the legal and administrative technique of management assignment. We also work with the schools affiliated with these partner universities, who provide their own resources, i.e., SIGMA, to provide their services to the Affiliated School.
| SIGMA Projects | Participating and Coordinating Universities | Unidigital Grants Received |
|---|---|---|
| AULASDATA | Universitat de les Illes Balears Universidad de Zaragoza  Universidad de Cantabria  |
200.000€ (+ 22.365€ extension) |
|
|
||
| NDSIGMA | Universidad de Vigo Universidad de Santiago de Compostela  Universidad de Cantabria Universidade da Coruña  |
458.000€ (ISGA I), 271.294,04€ (ISGA II) |
|
|
||
| NDSIGMA | Universitat Pompeu Fabra Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona  Universidad Autónoma de Madrid  Universitat de les Illes Balears |
1.166.248,86€ |
Overview:
The development project was carried out between October 2022 and December 2024. This project seeks to digitize and optimize academic management processes, benefiting both universities and their faculty and students. The integration of these tools allows for greater efficiency in the definition of teaching plans, as well as in the administrative management of space and classroom reservations.
Project Objectives:
The project's objective is to improve some of the current processes for defining schedules and reserving spaces to optimize their use and to offer modifications to the functional circuits of the teaching offer to facilitate management, as well as to develop new functionalities, including them in the SIGMA Academic application, that will assist in the day-to-day processes used by faculty and administrators at the centers.
Thus, the specific objectives of AULASDATA are:
• The management, optimization, and provision of information on the occupancy of spaces for teaching and university activities (seminars, conference rooms, classrooms, laboratories, meeting rooms, etc.).
• The automatic generation of teaching schedules based on the Teaching Organization Plan, the teaching space catalog, and the opening calendars of buildings and spaces, taking into account the needs and specificities of the departments and centers.
• Calendar integration interface (such as Google Calendar and/or AppCrue) for teachers and students.
Context:
As a result of studies conducted at the Universidad de Vigo, the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, the Universidade da Coruña, and the Universidad de Cantabria to optimize internal processes, improve operational efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance, the implementation of a comprehensive academic management and automation system will begin in October 2022. This process has been addressed through various subprojects.
Overview:
During the period from October 2022 to December 2024, the development subprojects were carried out.
These subprojects seek to digitize and optimize academic management processes, benefiting both universities and their students. The integration of these tools allows for greater efficiency in file management and communication between institutions. These subprojects include:
• Management of interuniversity studies (PR-INTERUN)
• University information exchange (API)
• Adaptation to the evaluation system (GESTOPAC)
• Translation of SIGMA into Galician (TRADUGAL)
• Adaptation to the EVAU system (PREINSGAL)
• Adaptation to the EVAU system (WS-GAL)
• Automated processing of promissory note files (AUTOMABON)
• Automation of the advance call process (ADELCONV)
• Improvements to teaching guides (MEJORDOA)
Project objectives:
The general objective of the ISGA project is to integrate academic management applications into the IT ecosystem of the participating universities. To achieve this, each subproject has its own specific objective, including: translating the SIGMA Academic application into Galician; improving the management of interuniversity programs; incorporating the management of assessment and enrollment opportunities, both in the general academic field and within the EVAU system; and automating processes within the SIGMA Academic application, such as file downloads and processing, and student application calls. Finally, the project also seeks to improve the alignment of teaching guides with official academic data.
Context:
The "New functionalities and modernization of the academic and research management solutions of SIGMA Gestión Universitaria A.I.E. (M.P.)" project is part of a cross-cutting project to ensure improvements in the evolution and transformation of SIGMA's academic management solution. This project encompasses various developments, the vast majority of which were agreed upon within Advisory Committees in which all the Group's member universities participate.
General description:
The development project was carried out between January 2022 and December 2024. This project responds to the evolution needs of the solution's roadmap through new developments and innovation projects aimed at improving academic processes, e-administration support, student communication, integration with other platforms, and contributing to interoperability, among other areas.
Project Objectives:
The NDSIGMA project encompasses several developments, each with its own specific characteristics. The overall project objective refers to the adaptation and innovative improvements of academic management solutions, while the specific objectives of each of the developments covered address various innovative improvements in different areas: incorporating greater autonomy in the management of electronic records and accreditation of student language levels; adapting self-services for optimal accessibility and usability; incorporating secure traceability when submitting applications; and expanding the functionality of the SIGMA Academic solution by integrating new tools. This includes integrating improvement solutions into doctoral processes and TESEO and Erasmus Without Paper.
