About us

About

Our Origin Story

DigEd was founded by a group of people, a passionate educator, IT Infrastructure Manager, and an inspired entrepreneur, who spent years working on the frontline of technology around the world.

Faced with tight budgets and outdated hardware, one of our founding member found himself tasked with a seemingly impossible challenge: to equip an entire classroom with 20 working laptops on a budget of just $2,000.

Through resourcefulness, creativity, and a lot of hands-on tech work, he sourced second-hand laptops, replaced the hard drives with SSDs, and installed Ubuntu and Firefox. Instead of expensive desktop apps, students accessed free online versions of Microsoft 365 through their browsers — and it worked.

That moment was pivotal.

What began as a short-term fix quickly revealed a much larger opportunity: schools don’t need expensive licensing, complex systems, or new hardware to give students meaningful access to modern digital tools.

They just need better infrastructure. That’s when DigEd was born.

At DigEd, our mission is to create simple, sustainable, and scalable open-source systems for education — and to offer a credible, powerful alternative to the Microsoft-dominated education ecosystem.

We build systems that schools can own, customise, and trust — without recurring licensing fees, hardware lock-ins, or third-party dependence

• We believe every school should have:
• Secure data and user management
• Reliable, fast access to digital tools on older devices
• Integrated cloud collaboration systems
• Real support from real educators and developers
• Control over their own digital environment

Introducing CReSED

Cloud-Ready Secure Education Distribution

Our first major project is CReSED — a purpose-built school operating system based on Ubuntu Pro. CReSED is designed as a drop-in replacement for Windows 10 on school laptops and desktops, especially as Microsoft ends support for Windows 10 in October 2025.

Thousands of schools across Australia — particularly in rural and low-SES areas — rely on older hardware that isn’t compatible with Windows 11. This leaves schools facing impossible choices: buy new laptops they can’t afford or risk running unsupported systems.

CReSED is the third way — a complete, secure, cloud-powered education OS that works with the hardware you already have.

CReSED: What’s Inside?

CReSED is more than just a Linux distro. It’s a fully integrated school system that replicates the Microsoft education stack — but with open-source technology:

• Samba Active Directory
  Manage users and devices with the same structure as Windows domains.
• Ubuntu Drive (powered by Nextcloud)
  A secure, school-hosted alternative to OneDrive or Google Drive.

• LibreOffice/OpenOffice Suite
  Fully compatible with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

• SharePoint-style Collaboration Tools
  Team folders, file versioning, group discussions, and web-based collaboration spaces.

• Internal DNS and web admin dashboard
  Run your own cloud server, identity system, and document portal — all hosted on your own infrastructure.

• Optional Google Drive integration
  Keep using familiar tools, but on your terms.

• Ubuntu Pro Security & Long-Term Support
  CReSED runs on Ubuntu Pro, ensuring five years of stable updates, security patches, and compliance.

Built for Real Schools

Every feature in CReSED has been tested in real classrooms, by real teachers and students. This is not theory — this is software born from the real challenges of educators on the ground.

In one school, students even helped raise money for robotics equipment by designing and selling school-branded tote bags — part of a DigEd-run program that combines entrepreneurship with digital learning. The money went straight back into the classroom to purchase robots, which were then programmed by students using Python and Scratch on DigEd-supplied laptops running Ubuntu.

It’s just one example of the kind of creative, community-first thinking that defines our approach.

How It Works

CReSED is offered under a straightforward, low-cost annual licence:

💰 $40/year per device

• $30 for CReSED

• $10 for the Ubuntu Pro licence

This covers everything a school needs:

• Initial setup and deployment support

• Regular updates and patches

• Access to our admin portal and school extensions

• Onboarding and walkthrough materials

• Ongoing support and optional customisation

No bloat. No fine print. Just a solid system that does the job.

Why Open Source?

Because schools deserve freedom, transparency, and flexibility.

Open-source software lets you:

• Own your infrastructure

• Modify or extend tools to suit your students

• Avoid vendor lock-in or licensing shocks

• Keep your data in your control

• Foster digital literacy and IT skills in the classroom

We believe teaching students on open platforms prepares them for real-world problem solving and empowers future developers, engineers, and tech leaders.

Our Values

DigEd is built on values that matter in education:

• Simplicity – Our systems are easy to use and don’t require IT experts to run.
• Resilience – Built to work on older hardware and limited networks.
• Partnership – We work with schools, not just for them.
• Sustainability – Extending device life reduces waste and saves money.
• Equity – Every school deserves access to quality digital infrastructure, not just those with the biggest budgets.

Our Team

DigEd brings together a team of educators, developers, school leaders, and IT specialists who understand education from the inside out. We’ve spent decades in classrooms and computer labs, and we know what works — and what doesn’t — in real school environments.

Where We’re Headed

We’re preparing for our national launch in September 2025, in alignment with the end of Windows 10 support. Between now and then, we’re working closely with pilot schools, refining our platform, and gathering feedback to make CReSED even better.

But this is just the beginning.

In future phases, we’ll be adding:

• Single Sign-On (SSO) integration with Google Workspace and Moodle

• Collabora and OnlyOffice for web-based document editing

• Built-in learning analytics dashboards

• Accessibility features for students with additional needs

• Teacher-friendly tools for classroom management and file sharing

We’re also building out professional development programs to help teachers and IT staff make the most of CReSED — including local workshops, online help centres, and school-to-school mentoring.

Let’s Build the Future Together

DigEd was created by educators for educators. We know how powerful digital tools can be — and we know how frustrating and expensive they’ve become under traditional systems.

We’re here to change that.

With CReSED, we’re creating a pathway for schools to thrive without breaking their budgets. We’re building systems that are open, equitable, and built to last.

Thanks for being part of the journey.

Want to Get Involved?

We’re actively looking for:

• Schools to join our pilot program

• Teachers to help shape the system

• Partners in government and industry

• Funders and supporters of digital equity

If you believe in giving every student access to modern, secure, affordable technology — we’d love to talk.

Want to join the pilot or learn more?