With Deloitte dubbing the smart campus as the ‘next-generation’ education setting, this type of environment is a jewel in the crown of the sector’s digital transition.
What is a smart campus?
The smart campus enriches education institutions, offering the cutting-edge technology needed to provide the ultimate 21st-century teaching and learning experience. It adds a convenient, state-of-the-art element to the physical space staff and students navigate every day.
In their report, Smart Campus: The next-generation connected campus, Deloitte defines the smart campus as a “paradigm shift to leverage innovative next-generation technologies to create a ‘digitally connected’ campus”.
From central management systems that automatically report faults in services and facilities, to connected parking spaces that use an app to help drivers find somewhere to park, to the less tangible but very real impact the smart campus can have on teaching and learning by freeing up valuable resources to invest elsewhere, these spaces have the potential to invigorate and inspire all stakeholders – from the vice-chancellor, to the CFO, the head of facilities, student services, transport, the head of waste management, even to the academics, researchers and, of course, the student body.
What are the benefits?
Deloitte’s report lays out 12 highly impactful benefits of the smart campus, including that they:
● Drive positive outcomes through dynamic engagement
● Enable the development and delivery of brand-new business models
● Foster a data-informed digital environment
● Allow faculty to support positive interactions
● Leverage innovative and interactive learning models
…and the list goes on!
In this Buyer’s Guide, we’ve compiled some of the most notable names, brands and technologies on the market today to share their expertise and experience, as well as provide you with insights straight from the frontline.
Who can help me create a smart campus?
Smartphones and security
Today’s campus environment provides a dynamic space where the community can embrace the mission of learning established by higher education institutions. Leading the charge in this rapidly changing environment are mobile devices, which have become ever-present in today’s colleges and universities. Mobile is transforming every facet of campus life for this generation of students, including the next wave of access control technology. With HID Mobile Access®, students and faculty can now use their smartphone, tablet or wearable to access doors, gates, networks and more. This award-winning solution provides users with a new level of security and convenience, including the ability to have one seamless digital identity across multiple use cases.
For security administrators, HID Mobile Access provides unprecedented cost savings and operational efficiencies, freeing up resources for new investments.
Reduce energy and carbon emissions
Let’s say you have a set of 32 laptops for classes. Your average student isn’t likely to shut the machine down at the end of its use and there won’t be anyone to unplug the laptops when they are fully charged. Thus, the battery is constantly being topped up, which constantly consumes energy. OnView from zioxi can solve this issue by connecting to your institution’s WiFi and is controlled with a cloud-based system. Smart Charge can set the most efficient charging schedule for when all the laptops are needed the next day. It will stop charging when laptop batteries are fully charged. Even more impressive is Green Charge – this technology receives information from the national grid and charges at the most CO₂-efficient times.
Thus, you can reduce your laptop energy bill from £640 to around £230 – a saving of £410. And you could reduce your related CO₂ emissions to more like 250kgs of CO₂ – a massive saving of nearly a tonne. zioxi charging trolleys are available for laptops, Chromebooks and tablets.
Get yourself connected
All stakeholders – vice chancellor, CFO, head of facilities, student services, transport, head of waste management, academics, researchers, and of course students (in fact, anybody using the campus) – should be engaged and benefit from a smart campus initiative. Logicalis is pioneering smart campus initiatives that are connecting stakeholders and use cases together.
For example, through a simple app, students can turn on all the lights in a space with a shake of their handset. Imagine that on the front cover of the prospectus as your unique selling point. Which parent isn’t going to want their child to be part of your campus?
Logicalis is connecting parking spaces to make it easier for car drivers to find a space, but also turning those spaces into revenue streams over weekends when the campus is quiet.
Those are just two simple examples of why every stakeholder should see a benefit from the smart campus.
The Logicalis team believes that inspiration leads to innovation.
Seamless security
Frictionless security may sound like an oxymoron, especially to those familiar with juggling passwords, struggling with access controls, and failing to connect to that critical website which has been blacklisted. Nevertheless, we need frictionless security if we are to keep students fully engaged with the digital technology they are expected to use.
Reconciling these two apparently mutually exclusive requirements is no easy task. Fortunately, Cisco has developed an unrivalled portfolio of security services that seamlessly fit together to provide a frictionless experience. And ITGL have been integrating this ‘Defence in Depth’ security strategy into educational establishments, both as standalone security implementations, and as an integral part of our Intuitive Campus solution.
Creating an intelligent, collaborative and secure campus
With more university places on offer than the world has ever seen, the modern day student is blessed with the power of choice. What can you do to promise them the best possible learning experience? Provide them with a campus that is safe, secure and connected.
Axians is creating the learning space of the future, complete with an intelligent booking system, access to real-time usage data, and wayfinding software. With a range of connected devices relying on the network, its performance and operation is crucial. Axians delivers the knowledge and harbours the capability to create the digital campus, turning your institution’s data into insights that improve learning, empower staff and enhance the student experience.
Further reading for more information:
Zioxi: Should I worry about the amount of energy our laptops consume?
Logicalis: What does smart campus mean to you?
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