Today’s college students are incredibly tech savvy, quickly moving from one task to the next and expecting instantaneous responses. As a result of COVID-19, faculty and administrators have had to play catch up and have the technologies and policies in place to ensure everyone is connected.
Higher education institutions need a Smart Campus strategy that supports new technologies such as mobile applications, next-generation platforms, the latest in developments in Wi-Fi connectivity and even artificial intelligence to ensure seamless engagement and accessibility for all. As a result, Fierce Education along with Fierce Technology are producing “The Connected Campus” on August 31, an online-only event for higher education executives, leaders, faculty and IT decision makers. Register here now.
Agenda:
Opening Keynote: Welcome to the Connected Campus
This session will take a big picture look at what the Connected Campus looks like—from registration—to campus life—to graduation.
Speaker: Vistasp M. Karbhari, former President; current Professor, Department of Civil Engineering; Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; University of Texas at Arlington
Session 1: Next Generation Network Strategies For Higher Education
College students not only need complete access to each other, faculty members and courseware resources, they need it fast. But what connectivity investments should higher education institutions make and where should they make them? Ensuring access in a large stadium or auditorium requires different capabilities than in a smaller classroom or dorm setting. While some universities may have access to 5G service, most are working with 4G. Should Wi-Fi 6 be a consideration and how does a distributed antenna system (DAS) fit? This session will cover the bandwidth and other connectivity support needs of higher education institutions and the process of moving up on the spectrum.
Speaker: Bob Zapotocky, Senior Principal Architect, Public Sector, AT&T
Speaker: Grant Asplund, Growth Technologies Evangelist at Check Point Software Technologies,
Session 2: Private Wireless Networks: The Pros and Cons for Boosting Bandwidth
Having reliable and secure Wi-Fi capabilities is a given for all colleges and universities. However, when it comes to wireless network strategies, higher education institutions have a few network options to evaluate. They can choose to use Private Wireless Networks with LTE or 5G technology, or they could boost up their Wi-Fi networks and bandwidth via 6 GHz spectrum and Wi-Fi 6. While private networks do create a more secure environment, does it limit accessibility and speed? This session will investigate the various pros, cons, and use cases for each option.
Speaker: Scott Midkiff, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for Virginia Tech.
Session 3: The Connected Campus in the Cloud
As colleges and universities invest more in their IT infrastructure, embracing more wireless apps and more reliable bandwidth services, they are embracing cloud computing services for more efficient storage and access. However, what kind of cloud environment is best for any particular institution—private, public or a hybrid? Also, with more cloud adoption sometimes brings with it more data security risks. Universities are a hot target for security breaches because of all the data they store and the level of accessibility they need to provide. This session will discuss higher ed’s migration of applications to the cloud and best practices in data security.
Speaker: Raffi Jamgotchian, President, Triada Networks; Author, “On Thin Ice”.
Speaker: Grant Asplund, Growth Technologies Evangelist at Check Point Software Technologies,