NOUN Strengthens Research, Commissions 7 ACETEL Laboratories

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has commissioned seven state-of-the-art Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) laboratories to boost research capabilities.

The new facilities are expected to provide cutting-edge resources and support a wide range of academic and research activities at the institution.

The seven laboratories are the Management Information System (MIS) Lab, Cyber Security Lab, Artificial Intelligence Lab, Virtual Reality Laboratory, ACETEL Basic Laboratory, ACETEL-CISCO Academy and Multimedia Laboratory.

Speaking at the commissioning of the laboratories in Abuja on Wednesday, the vice chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, commended ACETEL while pledging continuous support for the project.

“We are very glad that we can have these facilities. Secondly, is the fact that these facilities that we have commissioned today are game-changers to develop capacity, not just for our staff but to impart knowledge to our students at both Master and Postgraduate levels and also for those who might desire to have short courses to enhance their capacity.

“I’m proud that it is during my tenure that the whole of these is happening, and I want to thank ACETEL management for keeping with the focus and mandate that the World Bank has given us.”

He said the university will ensure the project’s sustainability by having competent staff.

Also speaking, the director of ACETEL, NOUN, Prof. Grace Jokthan, said the total funding for the centre is about six million dollars.

According to her, the IT labs came with state-of-the-act facilities that students could use for learning and research.

“I’m so glad that within the time frame of the project, we are able to deliver on this important task, and our students can now access our labs remotely.”