African Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL), hosted by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has recorded a milestone in advancing technology and operational efficiency within the nation’s premier open University.
ACETEL, one of the Centres of Excellence being supported by the World Bank in some beneficiary universities in Nigeria, has successfully developed a new robust Data Centre and Application and Registration Portal, for the University.
The innovations were inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Professor Olufemi Peters at a brief ceremony at University Headquarters in Abuja.
Peters explained that what ACETEL has done was to develop two tools to be used by the University, which are Information and Technology (IT) driven to enhance its operations in providing seamless and effective service to the University stakeholders.
He disclosed that the ACETEL alone has more than 150 international students registered under it and that the difficulties encountered by these foreign students in payment of their tuition fees have been addressed by the new IT solutions developed by ACETEL.
He commended the National Universities Commission (NUC) for facilitating the initiative and took the opportunity to congratulate the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Commission.
“We’ve invited guests to witness the launch and commissioning of two important tools that the university will be using. The first one is the registration portal. The second one is the data centre. All the World Bank-assisted Centres of Excellence are expected to have something unique to themselves, and this is why we developed a new registration portal.
He added; “ACETEL is designed to accommodate international students, which means payments will have to be made in foreign currencies. The system in Nigeria primarily operates in Naira.
“This launch marks a pilot phase for what we plan to implement across the Niger University. Now, our international students about 150 of them will find it easier to pay directly through our remittance portal. This will grant them access to their lectures and other academic services.”
Peters further explained the significance of the newly launched data center. “This university had a data centre when we were based in Lagos, but it is essential given the nature of our IT-based services that we have a localised data center. ACETEL was tasked with developing this, and they have done so.
“We now have what we refer to as both a cloud archiver system and a local data system. All university units have been integrated into this data centre, with a strong focus on data analytics. As a university at the forefront of personalised and adaptive learning, we need a facility that ensures continuity of access to our data, even if there are issues with the cloud. Our data center allows us to retain control over our data, which is crucial for operational efficiency.”
The primary purpose of the data centre, he said is to give the institution a permanent control over its data, enabling them to use it effectively in delivering education.
Director of ACETEL, Prof. Grace Jokthan expressed her satisfaction with the developments. “We are happy that we can now deliver the right services to our students. This will ease much of the workload, making our processes both cost-effective and efficient. We are grateful for this achievement.”
On the data center’s role, Grace added that the infrastructure will support the university in terms of data analytics, decision-making, and overall efficiency in university operations.
She emphasised that awareness and continued collaboration among university directorates will ensure that the data center is used to its full potential. “We will continue to create awareness and work with all university units to ensure seamless integration and optimal use of these new systems,” she said.
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