" ITREALMS: LASU ICT Academy @ final stage – Prof. Fatunde

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

LASU ICT Academy @ final stage – Prof. Fatunde

Member, Governing Council, Lagos State University (LASU), Prof. Tunde Fatunde, has revealed that the institute’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Academy has reached the final stages.

He made this disclosure in an address to the two-day workshop on EuroAfrica-ICT Awareness and Exchange by Panos Institute West Africa in collaboration with the Lagos State government, held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Centre for Information and Technology Systems (CITS), Akoka-Lagos, at the weekend.

Prof. Fatunde told Champion Infotel that the university is at its final phase towards the completion of the ICT Academy, which he proclaimed the first of its kind in the country.

“This final phase requires additional structures; another ICT centre and a five-star ICT conference accommodation centre,” he said.

He maintained that the project is commercially viable and would generate huge funds for the university on completion through its research and teaching among other services to be rendered to the community.

Prof. Fatunde who spoke on ‘Towards the creation of LASU ICT Academy: Achievements, Innovations and Constraints’ pointed out that the whole concept emanated from LASU ICT committee set up in October 2005 by then newly appointed Vice Chancellor, Prof. Lateef Hussain.

He also said that the committee was given the mandate to provide an enabling environment within the university community with a view to encouraging LASU students and staff to pursue with vigour the three cardinal principles of ICT bordering on training, research and rendering of services.

He noted that in pursuance of this objective, emphasis was laid on the rugged determination to use internal manpower resources to execute these projects.

This strategy, he said, is cost effective and would ensure that security and confidentiality of programmes within the school’s community, thus creating opportunity for both staff and students to participate actively in the development and management of LASU ICT programmes.

“After all, LASU is a centre for training and development of the mind and the brain,” he asserted.

Prof. Fatunde further said that this objective is contained in the 250-page document titled LASU ICT Road Map written by ICT Team in collaboration with graduating students of Faculty of Engineering of its Epe campus.

Outlining the achievements and innovations, Prof. Fatunde said that LASU now could boast of two ICT centres namely LASU ICT centre and Zenith ICT centre.

This, he said, encompasses an IT laboratory housing 111 desktop computers of Hewlett Packard (HP) brand based on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HP and the institute of which the payment has been completed.

In addition, LASU boasts of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), which facilitates provision of Internet services for both the centre and the entire main campus in the Ojo axis of Lagos.

He disclosed that plans are underway to cement strategy that would avail the provision of Internet services via LASU VSAT infrastructure for companies and organisations within the Ojo-Alaba environment.

All the software used in the university, so far, he said, has been developed in-house by the software unit, including the ones deployed at LASU’s exams and records, e-registration, e-payment to name a few.

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