Since its inception in January 2017, CERN is part of the EU-funded Up2U (Up2University) project. The collaboration officially launched at the end of March 2020 openUp2U, a version of its trusted, remote learning platform that is now available to all schools and universities across Europe, in an effort to support continued learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is coordinated by GÉANT, the pan-European data network for the research and education community, and gathers 18 partners from 12 countries.

The Up2U platform is a Next Generation Digital Learning Environment (NGDLE) that is modular, interoperable, GDPR compliant, highly customisable and portable. Based on open source technology, it offers services such as course management, video-conferencing and file sharing integrated into a learning management system so that teachers and students can collaborate in real-time, supporting remote learning and educational support.

CERN is contributing to openUp2U and Up2U through two services based on its SWAN, CERNBox and EOS technologies developed in the IT department:

• SWAN is a turn-key platform developed at CERN to produce digital notebooks to be created in a simple web interface - with text, code, pictures and video - that can be stored in CERNBox. 
• CERNBox is a Sync and Share storage solution for Science, that allows students and teachers to work and collaborate anytime and anywhere from their mobile devices. CERNbox is powered by EOS, the storage system created at CERN for extreme LHC computing requirements, and by ownCloud.

The two other services made available by openUp2U are:

• Moodle – a course management system based on a free open-source software package designed to help educators create effective online courses.
• eduMEET – an open-source web-based video-conferencing platform developed in the GÉANT (GN4-3) Project, that provides a self-hosted, secure and trustworthy environment for distance learning. eduMEET is currently in Beta stage.

Teachers, students and educational institutions interested in accessing the openUp2U platform and services are encouraged to check the openUp2U booklet and user guide available on the platform’s webpage. Registering to the platform can be done instantly and for free from there as well. The press release announcing the openUp2U launch is available on the GÉANT website. For any further information, please contact contact@lists.up2university.eu.