DENT Hackathon

DENT participated in NRF: Retail’s Big Show 2025, held from January 12–14 in New York City, NY. NRF 2025 offered an unparalleled opportunity for DENT to showcase its innovative solutions and engage with a global audience of retail professionals and potential end users.

DENT hosted a booth in NRF’s Startup Hub, a dedicated space for emerging companies and technologies to highlight transformative and groundbreaking ideas. The Startup Hub served as a dynamic platform for DENT to demonstrate its readiness as a retail edge solution and engage with attendees eager to explore the latest advancements shaping the future of retail. The Startup Hub served as a catalyst for innovation, bringing together emerging technologies and ideas ready to transform the retail industry, with DENT actively contributing to the dialogue on impactful advancements for the future of retail.

The DENT team, which included an expert representative from member organization PLVision, and staff from the Linux Foundation, leveraged the event to showcase DENT’s vendor-ready network operating system (NOS). They emphasized its transformative capabilities for the retail industry while educating attendees on DENT’s mission to deliver a lightweight, low-cost, Linux-based NOS that operates seamlessly across a range of devices, from embedded systems to DC switches. 

DENT also highlighted its advancements in virtualization with the SAI virtual switch in DentOS. This technology enables streamlined development and testing in a virtualized environment, eliminating the need for physical hardware and paving the way for greater flexibility and efficiency in networking.

DENT is actively developing a PoC product to address retail edge networking requirements.  

Key Takeaways

NRF 2025 underscored the shifting landscape of retail technology. One of the dominant themes was the future of retail tech beyond AI, exploring its potential to enhance hyper-personalization and store analytics. AI was discussed as a transformative force in retail, promising to make experiences more personal for customers and employees alike. The event highlighted how AI could drive a completely new kind of retailing—not just through efficiency or automation, but by redefining the relationship between retailers and consumers.

A Global Gathering of Retail Professionals

NRF 2025 continues to serve as the world’s largest retail trade event, drawing a global audience. While 2025’s attendance data is not yet available, the 2024 event saw nearly 40,000 attendees, including 19,000 retail professionals, 5,000 brands, and representatives from over 100 countries, with 70% from the US and 30% international.

Future Events

DENT’s presence at NRF 2025 reinforced its position as a leader in the retail tech space. The team is looking forward to upcoming events, including the 2025 OCP EMEA Summit on April 29–30 in Dublin, Ireland, and the 2025 OCP Global Summit on October 14–16 in San Jose, CA. 

As DENT continues to drive innovation in network operating systems, its participation in key industry events like NRF helps advance its mission and connect with stakeholders eager to embrace transformative technologies. Stay tuned as DENT continues to redefine the future of retail networking.

What’s next?

Stay tuned for future announcements and opportunities to engage with the DENT project. Together, we can shape the future of network operating systems!

On December 14, 2024, DENT, in partnership with Algebra University, successfully hosted the Linux Foundation’s first open source hackathon in Croatia. This milestone event brought together bright minds from student and professional communities, providing a platform to tackle real-world challenges in network configuration and management. DENT’s members made the hackathon possible with invaluable support from Sartura and PLVision.

Held at the Algebra Spark Event Space in Zagreb, the hackathon ran all day Saturday, creating a vibrant environment of collaboration, innovation and hands-on learning. With a prize fund of €3,000, the event drew participation from students and professionals eager to push the boundaries of network technology.

Participants formed teams of up to three members, tackling complex challenges in areas like:

• Cloud system management
• Remote packet capture
• Telemetry improvement

Mentors and jurors from the following organizations played a crucial role in guiding and evaluating the participants. These included:

• Leonid Khedyk (PLVision)
• Bruno Banelli (Sartura & Algebra University)
• Vedran Dakić (Algebra University)
• Andrei Zvonimir Crnković & Svebor Prstačić (DORS/CLUC)

The competition was fierce, with participants showcasing impressive technical skills and innovative solutions. The winners were:

First Place (€2,000 prize):
Pia Maria Bregant (SigmaBit)

Second Place (€1,000 prize):
Erik Štrumberger and Team CodeOne

In addition to the top two teams, several other teams demonstrated exceptional dedication and skill:

• SigmaByte
• UnresolvedConflict
• Studentice
• Technoserv
• CodeBros
• !SMART

We celebrate all the participants for their hard work, creativity and collaborative spirit.

This event marked a significant step forward for open source collaboration in Croatia. By partnering with Algebra University, DENT helped create an opportunity for the local tech community to engage with cutting-edge open source technologies and contribute to the development of next-generation network solutions.

Acknowledgments:

DENT extends its heartfelt gratitude to its members Sartura and PLVision for their crucial support in making this event possible. Special thanks also go to the mentors and jurors for their time, expertise and encouragement.

This hackathon would not have been a success without the enthusiasm and participation of the talented teams who came together to innovate and collaborate.

What’s next?

Stay tuned for future announcements and opportunities to engage with the DENT project. Together, we can shape the future of network operating systems!