DEVELOPMENT OF FREE SOFTWARE APPLIED TO EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

The current economic crisis in Mexico has resulted in budget reductions allocated to public universities, which also limits the purchase of commercial software licenses. The use of different types of software is necessary for the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and their absence at higher education institutions (UEI) impedes the preparation of undergraduate students, which has adverse effects on the professional performance and the overall quality of employment. Bearing in mind the above-stated, the aim of this paper is to develop free software that can be applied to education and research. The generation of software “EficienciaRelativa”, “MuestreosEstadísticos”, and “GEGasolinas2.0”, made use of Java programming language. While the first one calculates the efficiency of experimental designs, the second one determines the sample size, while the third one calculates the generation of gasoline consumption scenarios and production of bioethanol fuel from sugar cane. They have been used to support education and research and contribute to reducing the digital divide and enhancing graduation rates and the overall quality of education at Mexican UEIs.