Improved Institutional and Community ICT Capacity to Access and Utilize Information
This sub-project is framed to enable the successful implementation of the 5 sub-projects and the coordination within the PSU. The use of ICTs in all the sub-projects provides a new framework and enormous opportunities for facilitating multi-disciplinary and inter-Faculty project interactions and improving community information access and utilization.
However, the ICT infrastructure at MUST is inadequately equipped to fully support eLearning, eLibrary services, the CITT and International Relations Office. The computer to student ratio at MUST stands at 1:15, way below the ideal 1:5 by the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE, 2014). The current band-width at MUST stands at 145 Mbps compared to the expected standard of 27,000 Mbps required by the current university students and staff population (MUST-ICT Status Report, 2020). The university lacks a centralised data repository for research and data management. There is limited technical expertise in existing ICTs to collect, analyse and disseminate data.
The MUST satellite centres lack timely access to information and related services. There is limited expertise in the integration of environmental observations, digital spatial databases or energy use information which would enable rapid transfer of information and production of analytical reports to stakeholders and the community. ICTs are needed to support youth skilling, innovations, business incubation, and business outsourcing initiatives.
The International Relations Office lacks adequate ICT facilities for international students and visitors. There are no central digital meeting and resource rooms for international mobility short research stays.
This transversal sub-project strongly links with UCoBS objectives to bridge the gap of information poverty and digital divide by improving information access/utilisation through setting up ICT infrastructure and building capacity in data management and utilisation of community-generated information.
Therefore, the expertise sought for at the level of the Flemish HEIs to reinforce existing expertise at the local project team are data science, artificial intelligence, data management, data center design, software engineering, system administration, network administration and security.
Key activities: ICT capacity building is the primary focus of this project and it will be done at different levels: for technical staff and researchers. Technical staff will undergo short-term trainings (train the trainer) while researchers ill be supported through other projects by organising ICT-related engagement events in the relevant areas. Upgrading of ICT infrastructure will be done, development of data science (AI/ML) curricula and development of the internationalization office are critical for this project.
