The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has launched the African Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) application, registration app, and a new university data centre.
The unveiling ceremony took place at the university’s headquarters in Abuja yesterday.
NOUN’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, 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 guests to witness the launch and commissioning of two essential tools the university will use. The first one is the registration portal. The second one is the data centre. I’ve insisted that all ACETEL centres have something unique, so we developed a new registration portal.”
He added, “ACETEL is designed to accommodate international students, which means payments must be made in foreign currencies. The Nigerian system primarily operates in Naira.
“This launch marks a pilot phase for what we plan to implement across the Niger University. About 150 international students 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 centre. “This university had a data centre when we were based in Lagos, but given the nature of our IT-based services, we must have a localised data centre. 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 centre allows us to retain control over our data, which is crucial for operational efficiency.”
He said the primary purpose of the data centre is to give the institution permanent control over its data, enabling it to use it effectively in delivering education.
The 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 cost-effective and efficient. We are grateful for this achievement.”
On the data centre’s role, Grace added that the infrastructure would 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 the data centre 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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