HackMetu'26, organized on the 70th anniversary of the foundation of METU, brought together young engineers to contribute to the national software ecosystem. The 24-hour hackathon, held on February 21-22, 2026, in collaboration with the IEEE METU Student Branch, the TÜBİTAK BİLGEM Pardus Project, and the TBD Young Ankara, stood out with its cybersecurity theme. Developers produced critical solutions enhancing endpoint security for Türkiye's national operating system, Pardus, and its Central Management Systems.
In today's world, where global cyber-attacks and data breaches are increasing, the use of domestic software in the Information Technology infrastructures of public institutions and strategic facilities has ceased to be a choice and has become a matter of national security. Acting with this vision, the HackMetu'26 organization encouraged young minds to work directly on Pardus, the state's official operating system.
24 Hours of Production: Focus on Endpoint Security
Today, the primary target of cyber threats is often endpoints connected to corporate networks. Therefore, the main focus of the event was determined to be making the Pardus architecture more resilient and easier to manage against these threats.
During the 24-hour non-stop production process, participating teams designed projects expanding the capabilities of the Central Management System. Young engineers developed server software that increases the monitorability of systems consisting of thousands of computers, lightens the operational load of system administrators, and provides automation in emergencies. Additionally, indigenous agent services running in the background and desktop applications were successfully coded to close system vulnerabilities.
Direct Mentorship from TÜBİTAK BİLGEM Experts
The most important factor that makes a software marathon valuable is the reflection of real-world engineering experience onto the table. Throughout the event, expert developers from the core team of the Liderahenk and Pardus projects within TÜBİTAK BİLGEM were present on-site.
These experts provided technical consultancy to the teams. Simultaneously, the projects were meticulously evaluated based on criteria including security approach, technical proficiency, and applicability to corporate architectures. Thus, students had the opportunity to closely examine the code structure of a system used in the state's most critical points and produce solutions suitable for real-world scenarios.
70 Years of Legacy and the National Software Vision
This organization, coinciding with METU's 70th anniversary, combined the university's deep-rooted scientific tradition with the open-source philosophy. The event, also supported by the Türkiye Informatics Association Young Ankara team, concluded with awards presented to the winning teams.
In today's world, where foreign-origin closed-source software carries risks of backdoors, transparent and auditable national operating systems like Pardus serve as a strategic shield. HackMetu'26 directly served the goal of full technological independence by transforming the new generation of programmers from mere consumers into producers within this domestic ecosystem.
