Meaning of Mgt

							COLLINS FOSU AND KWABENA OBIRI YEBOAH
         KNUST KUMASI, GHANA




Internet Access in Research and
Educational Institutions in Africa.
PRESENTATION OUTLINE


1.   INTRODUCTION
2.   BACKGROUND OF STUDY
3.   OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
4.   BANDWITH AT THE UNIVERSITIES
5.   CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
BACKGROUND

 According to the Data Development Group of
  the World Bank, ICT infrastructure in Ghana is
  progressing as compared to other low-income
  countries globally and above the 1.1% average
  for Sub Saharan Africa (Martey, 2004).
 The government of Ghana and other agencies
  have over the years made several strides to
  develop the ICT infrastructure so as to bridge
  the digital divide between Ghana and the
  developed world.
DEFINITION CNTD.

 The introduction of ICT into universities has
  changed the way education and research is
  conducted.
 ICT paves the way for a new pedagogical
  approach, where students are expected to play
  a more active role than before (Alabi, 2004).
 ICT enhances research, teaching and learning
  in campuses in a variety of ways.
BACKGROUND

   There have been a number of factors impeding
    the wholesale uptake of ICT in education
    across all sectors. These include;
     lack of funding for the necessary infrastructure,
     lack of training among established teaching and
      research practitioners,
     lack of motivation and need among teachers and
      researchers to adopt ICT as a tool (Starr, 2001).
     Inadequate Bandwidth for internet access.
 BACKGROUND

 The high cost of bandwidth, inadequate and
  unreliable telecommunication services and
  applications still remains a major challenge.
 Moreover even when service providers offer
  bandwidths to educational institutions it is most
  often unreliable with low service availability times.
 According to Aguele (2007), until universities in
  developing countries in Africa come together on
  country basis to demand a dedicated pipe for
  direct supply the issue of service providers
  surcharging them may never end.
BACKGROUND CNTD.

 But in recent times, factors have emerged
  which have strengthened and encouraged
  moves to adopt ICTs into classrooms and
  research settings.
 These include:
    A  growing need to explore efficiencies in terms
      of program delivery,
     The opportunities for flexible delivery provided
      by ICTs (Oliver & Short, 1997),
 The capacity of technology to provide support for
  customized educational programs to meet the needs of
  individual learners (Kennedy & McNaught, 1997),
 The growing use of the Internet and World Wide Web as
  tools for information access and communication (Oliver
  & Towers, 1999),
 According to the Data Development Group of the World
  Bank, ICT infrastructure in Ghana is progressing as
  compared to other low-income countries globally and
  above the 1.1% average for Sub Saharan Africa (Martey,
  2004).
 The government of Ghana and other agencies have
  over the years made several strides to develop the ICT
  infrastructure so as to bridge the digital divide between
  Ghana and the developed world.
ICT STATUS AT THE THREE UNIVERSITIES

University of Cape-Coast (UCC)
   UCC currently has a point to point fibre optic network and linked
    the major departments and research units to the computing
    centre that serves as the hub of the network.
   The university Network is linked to the international gateway by
    4mbs link to Ghana Telecom.
   The university has two campuses, southern campus and northern
    campus.
   The two campuses are linked by a point to point 2.4GHz wireless
    radio which provides a bandwidth of 54mb/s.
   The computing Centre provides web directory and email services
    to the staff and student of the university.
   The unit also maintains and update the university website and
    email directory.
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE-COAST (UCC)

   UCC started with a modest bandwidth of 64kbs in
    1996 and has a total bandwidth of 4mbs as at
    December 2009.
   Bandwidth in the nineties was expensive and
    therefore the university could purchase a few
    megabit of international gateway.
   However, with the introduction of the International
    Fiber Optic Gateway (SAT3), UCC was able to
    purchase 128 kbs in the Year 2004.In the Year 2006
    the university for the first time could afford 1mbs.
   Within three years the university has been able to
    quadruple its bandwidth to 4mbs.
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE-COAST (UCC)

ICT Resource Allocation
 UCC as at 2009 spends 26 % of its total ICT
  Central expenditure on bandwidth.
 This left 74% for ICT infrastructure and
  maintenance.
 The 74 % of its budget was pushed into the
  maintenance of the ICT Centre.
 The student technology fee constituted 32 % of
  the total ICT central income and the 68 % was
  from foreign student fees and Internal
  Generated Fund.
            UNIVERSITY OF CAPE-COAST (UCC)

                                                       Bandwidth Capacity, 1996 - 2009 - UCC
                                   4.5
Total Bandwidth (megabit/second)




                                    4

                                   3.5

                                    3

                                   2.5

                                    2

                                   1.5

                                    1

                                   0.5

                                    0
                                         2001   2002      2003    2004    2005    2006     2007   2008   2009
                                                                           Year
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE-COAST (UCC)

   Ratio of Bandwidth costs to Total ICT Expenditure - UCC




                                  26%

                                                             University ICT Central
                                                             Expenditure - Bandwidth
                                                             University ICT Central
                                                             Expenditure - Other

               74%
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE-COAST (UCC)
            ICT Expenditure - Income Sources (UCC)




      32%
                                              ICT Income from Student payments

                                               ICT Income from Other sources
                                              (Dollar a/c, IGF etc)
                       68%
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (UG)

   UG currently has a fibre optic that links all
    departments and research units to the Network
    Operation Centre.
   About, 30% of the network is connected to digital
    subscriber line system which has a 2mbs bandwidth.
   The university Network is linked to the international
    gateway by 10mbs link to Ghana Telecom and 7mbs
    redundancy VSAT link.
   The university links its 3 campuses by a multi-point
    to point 2.4GHz wireless radios which provides a
    bandwidth of 54mb/s to each of the campuses.
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (UG)

 UG started with a modest bandwidth of 64kbs in
  1996 and has a total bandwidth of 17mbs as at
  December 2009.
 Bandwidth in the first eight years was expensive
  and therefore the university could purchase a few
  megabit of international gateway.
 However, with the introduction of international
  Fiber optic gateway (SAT3), UG was able to afford
  2mbs in the Year 2004/2005
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (UG)

ICT Resource Allocation
 UG as at 2009 spends 57% of its total ICT
  Central expenditure on bandwidth.
 This left 43% for ICT infrastructure and
  Maintenance.
 The student technology fee constituted 60 % of
  the total ICT central income and the 40 % was
  from foreign student fees and Internal
  Generated Fund.
 It is clearly seen that student levy was key in
  supporting bandwidth growth on campus.
          UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (UG)

                                         Bandwidth Capacity, 1996 - 2009 - UG
                                   18
Total Bandwidth (megabit/second)




                                   16

                                   14

                                   12

                                   10

                                    8

                                    6

                                    4

                                    2

                                    0
                                        1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
                                                                         Year
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (UG)

     Ratio of Bandwidth costs to Total ICT Expenditure - UG




                                              University ICT Central Expenditure -
                                              Bandwidth
      43%
                                              University ICT Central Expenditure -
                                              Other
                         57%
THE NATURE OF MANAGEMENT

            ICT Expenditure - Income Sources (UG)




      40%                                      ICT Income from Student
                                              payments
                                               ICT Income from Other
                          60%                 sources (Dollar a/c, IGF etc)
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)
   KNUST currently has a fully redundant fibre optic network which links
    all departments and research units to the Network Operation Centre.
   The university Network is linked to the international gateway by
    10mbs link to Vodafone Sat3 fibre network and 3mbs VSAT
    redundant link.
   The Clinical Hostel is linked to the main campus by a point to point
    2.4GHz wireless radios providing a bandwidth of 54mb/s for intranet
    and internet application.
   The university has currently linked all students’ residential facilities
    with wireless hotspot facility.
   The university currently hosts the online national repository of the
    country.
   Thesis, journals, “The Ghana collections’’ and other educational
    materials all over the country are being converted from hard copy to
    digital copies.
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)

 KNUST started with a modest bandwidth of
  64kbs in 1999 and has a total bandwidth of
  13mbs as at December 2009.
 Bandwidth in the first six years was expensive
  and therefore the university could purchase a
  few megabit of international gateway.
 However, with the introduction of International
  Fiber Optic Gateway (SAT3), KNUST could afford
  3mbs in the Year 2005.
    KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
    AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)

 ICT Resource Allocation
 KNUST as at 2009 spends 70% of its total ICT
  Central expenditure on bandwidth.
 This left 30% for ICT infrastructure and
  Maintenance.
 The student technology fee constituted 34 % of
  the total ICT central income and the 66 % was
  from foreign student fees and Internal Generated
  Fund.
 It was clearly seen that student levy was key in
  supporting bandwidth growth on campus.
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST)
                      CONCLUSION
   The study concludes that in order to manage ICT
    effectively and efficiently, the university management
    must have a business aligned IT policy with total
    stakeholder involvement and ownership. Additionally, it
    was also realised that the challenges facing ICT
    management can be solved if the problems are
    prioritized and the solution properly planned. The
    researcher also realised that proper management of ICT
    and its related challenges can give the prospective
    university a competitive advantage over its peers.

                RECOMENDATIONS

 Align IT Strategy with the university’s strategic
  objectives
 Establish a Comprehensive ICT Policy
 Prioritise ICT Governance and Leadership
 Formation of Consortia for Bandwidth
 Formation of Educational Research Network

   Funding Priority