Teleconferencing

UG’s Tain, Turkeyen campuses now digitally connected with teleconferencing platform

Students from the University of Guyana’s Tain Campus can now access courses offered at the University’s Turkeyen Campus without leaving Berbice. This is now possible with the launch of the Teleconferencing Platform, which connects the two campuses.

UG, in collaboration with the Public Telecommunications Ministry, on Monday launched the Teleconferencing Platform at the Centre for Information Technology (CIT), Turkeyen Campus.

Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith said the Platform, donated by Huawei – a China-based company, was just one step towards connecting the University’s campuses. He added that he intended to push the envelope of engagement not only within and between the classrooms, but also in the communities for wider participation.

Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes said Government wanted to ensure there was more connectivity between the country’s premier tertiary institution and other stakeholders. “Today, we are celebrating the operation of our teleconferencing facility, which has been given as a gift to UG, and from a macro perspective, this teleconferencing suite is one more step in the march towards creating a higher level of digital connectivity for all citizens of Guyana,” she said.

“…where we are hoping to take Guyana as a country means that we want to ensure that we can provide, as a Government, more and more digital services online,” Hughes added.

The Minister revealed that it was hoped that birth registration, passport and driver’s licence applications would be available online since that would be more efficient and less time-consuming. Minister Hughes underscored the importance of the teleconferencing suite, noting that it would allow students from the Tain Campus the opportunity to take courses only offered at the Turkeyen Campus, without the hassle of travelling back and forth between Berbice and Georgetown.

“With the use of technology we recognise that we can connect distant locations and that, of course, makes it easy for individuals, for students, for teachers in our society and communities to be able to connect. This equipment was a gift from Huawei and they actually presented this to Guyana since 2013. We are excited; I am excited, that finally with the help of capable staff at the ICT [Information and Communications Technology] Department here at UG and with my staff they’ve made the commitment – that guess what? although the instructions for assembling this unit is actually in Mandarin, they decided that they would put their heads together and they have delivered,” Hughes commended.

She also revealed that the unit would be powered by the Ministry’s e-Government Unit. Hughes added that through the e-Governanace Agency, they have been able to connect 84 schools, 20 educational institutions and created some 56 ICT hubs.

Article adapted from: http://www.inewsguyana.com/ugs-tain-turkeyen-campuses-now-digitally-connected-with-teleconferencing-platform/

UG's Tain and Turkeyen's capacity boosted with commissioning of Teleconferencing Platform

University of Guyana Tain and Turkeyen’s students will now be able to access local and international classes from their respective locations. This was revealed today when the University of Guyana officially launched its Teleconferencing Platform at the Centre for Information Technology (CIT), Turkeyen Campus.

The commissioning featured a live demonstration of the Teleconferencing Suite’s capabilities with the participation of students on the Berbice Tain campus. It was explained that prospective students especially from Region Six, East Berbice Corentyne will now be able to access courses that are unavailable at the Tain campus but are at the Turkeyen campus without leaving their classrooms.

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes said that the agreement between the Ministry and University is to ensure that there is more connectivity on the campuses and also to enhance education countrywide.

She explained that with the use of technology, distant locations are able to connect which makes it easier for students, teachers and lecturers. “This teleconferencing suite is one more step in the march of creating a higher level of digital connectivity for all citizens of Guyana”, Minister Hughes emphasised. She noted that there “is no time to pause” when the government moving to make Guyana a digital country.

Minister Hughes said that her Ministry recognised that technology around the world is changing rapidly and even though Guyana is behind, the prospect of “catching up” is exciting.” She expressed gratitude to Huawei Technologies, the University of Guyana, and E- Government Agency for “their tireless efforts in making the Teleconferencing Platform a reality.”

Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith said that this commissioning of the Teleconference suite is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the University and the Ministry of Telecommunications. He stated that the Teleconferencing is “the renewing of vows” between the relevant agencies for greater cooperation.

The Vice Chancellor added that it is the memorandum of understanding  which will enable the presence of the University in a number of locations. He also expressed gratitude to the relevant agencies for their co-operation in bringing the initiative to light.

The teleconferencing suite is a 2013 gift from Huawei Technologies which was installed on the University’s Turkeyen Campus recently as part of the agreement for Technical Cooperation between the University and the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.

The NDMA first had to reconfigure the suite to the new fibre optic network connectivity requirements on campus before the teleconferencing was made possible.

In April, 2017 Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes and University of Guyana’s (UG), Principal and Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Ivelaw Griffith signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to boost the Information Communication Technology (ICT) platforms at the Turkeyen campus, in keeping with one of the major goals of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications to better equip UG to provide broad band internet access to students and lecturers.

Article adapted from: http://gina.gov.gy/ugstain-and-turkeyens-capacity-boosted-with-commissioning-of-teleconferencing-platform/