I had the pleasure of attending The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA) in May, and it was a magnificent event. THETA is the number one biennial conference in Australasia promoting the intelligent use of information technology in higher education and research. Run under the direction of CAUDIT, CAUL, and ACODE, THETA 2019 was graciously hosted by the University of Wollongong.
The Ruckus team provided event-wide Wi-Fi for all attendees, connecting over 1,000 devices and delivering over 1TB of internet traffic handled – all with no issues and with fewer access points than originally planned due largely to Ruckus Beamflex+
technology.
I was excited to deliver my presentation, ”How to build a Smart Campus and make it
uniquely valuable to your institution” which focused on three areas:
- A deep dive on the need for change in higher education to address a struggling business model;
- How a Smart Campus can help attract and retain students while lowering operating costs; and
- How Ruckus uniquely addresses the challenges of deploying a smart campus while providing a platform for innovation to each institution.
What makes a smart campus ‘smart’ is not
that it supports smartphones… rather, it is the deployment and use of IoT
sensors to place the physical infrastructure of the campus onto IP networks to
create situational awareness and programmed responses. In
other words, ‘sense something, do something.’ Is the room unoccupied? Turn off the lights. Is there motion outside the library entrance
after midnight? Turn on the overhead LED
light and prioritize the nearby CCTV camera feed for security.
IoT sensors also allow institutions to
create amazing new teaching and learning opportunities, such as hydroponic
gardens, or update student experiences like knowing in real-time the wait time
for lunch, fitness equipment, a laundry dryer, or a campus shuttle.
Too much of a good thing?
While it is tempting to immediately start your journey to a smart campus, be warned there are implementation challenges. Current network trends indicate internet growth will continue for cellular, Wi-Fi, …