Murcia Región Europea The "Opendata" project, which monitors university facilities, demonstrates the institution's research capacity in the field of ICT.

Opendata is an initiative of the University of Murcia that consists of monitoring facilities in order to analyze the information they provide and efficiently manage infrastructure. Sensors collect information that enables comprehensive, remote, and centralized management of university buildings. The platform makes it possible for climate control systems, lighting, fire and burglary alarm centers, and fault detection systems to interact, allowing more efficient action in specific locations.

The Opendata project is framed within the European Union’s “20-20-20” objectives (a 20% reduction in primary energy consumption, a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and a 20% share of renewable energy). It will be used as an evaluation scenario within the European Commission’s “Smart Cities” projects in which the University of Murcia participates. These projects are based on what has come to be known as the Internet of Things: an Internet that will not only involve the connection of an increasing number of people, but also the creation of a digital world in which everything can be connected—from devices to physical-world objects that previously lacked such connectivity. This includes urban elements, buildings, cars, household appliances, meters, etc., and in general anything that needs to be managed or controlled.

Opendata has been implemented at the University of Murcia with the collaboration of companies from the region: Sureste Seguridad and OdinS, the latter being a company created from the Department of Information and Communications Engineering of the Faculty of Computer Science at UMU. This project represents a benchmark in research within a cutting-edge ICT sector, such as energy efficiency, especially at a time of prolonged crisis and economic difficulties for Spanish public universities.