Recently I had the opportunity to attend the University API hosted by BYU. This conference is focused on technology used in universities but also has
A teammate and I built a fun CTF gamification for this conference and the UAPI specification. Through a series of API calls that conform to the standard, you find flags to complete the capture the flag game and accumulate points. It is hosted online and available here https://uapi.ctfd.io/
This conference itself was run as an Un-Conference. It’s an interesting format where there is no real set agenda at the beginning of the day. I was a bit skeptical at first but I found it to be quite engaging. Each morning people interested in hosting a session or interested in requesting a session/discussion would create the day’s agenda. It was then up to participants to decide where they would get the most worth and contribute the most.
I enjoyed some of the sessions on emerging technologies addressing identity systems, API deployment automation, and digital wallets. Of course, the one I had the most fun
Overall it was a really cool experience and definitely widened my perspective. Also while historically universities might have appeared tech-wary there are tons of opportunities for cutting edge technologies to change the educational landscape and improve the lives of students and non-students alike.