Knowledge Village hosts pioneering concept in education technology solutions

Hosted in the SunGard SCT offices in Dubai Knowledge Village and utilising the Dubai Knowledge Village's world class connected learning community network, the Unified Digital Campus environment is a first-of-its-kind collaboration in the region of functionality, technology, and architecture that can provide exceptional value to education.

Built in cooperation with Sun Microsystems, the showcase offers institutions of higher education the opportunity to interact with the most advanced Digital Campus technologies that support learning, teaching, and administration.

"We are working with leading companies in Dubai Internet City such as Sun Microsystems and with the leadership of Dubai Knowledge Village to demonstrate the value of Digital Campus solutions for education in the Middle East," said Mathew Boice, General Manager, SunGard SCT, EMEA. "The Unified Digital Campus is a strategy that helps higher education institutions improve their effectiveness while adding value to both the student and faculty experiences. With this new facility, our aim is to provide specific examples of what SunGard SCT and our partners' solutions can help education achieve."

With SunGard SCT's Unified Digital Campus solutions, colleges and universities in the Middle East and throughout the world are improving the education experience. User-centric technologies enhance the quality of service allowing individuals to access information easily, collaborate with peers, and excel in their respective roles. Whether it is a recruiter retrieving an applicant's record on-the-move through a PDA or a student collaborating online with a classmate, SunGard SCT is part of the connection. As individuals enjoy the possibilities of a Unified Digital Campus, institutions are enjoying a higher level of effectiveness.

"Higher Education is evolving and growing with the introduction of new technologies and solutions. The better the technology, the stronger and more valuable the learning experience. Dubai Knowledge Village continues to support these significant initiatives. Not only are we building a community for the educational institutions and organizations, but one of our key objectives is to play an active role in developing this community and advancing the way in which people learn," said Dr. Abdullah Al Karam, CEO, Dubai Knowledge Village, "We are creating the environment where Dubai will be a key global education destination."

The solution showcase will harness the power of:

• The Dubai Knowledge Village internet and high speed networking;

• Sun's Java Enterprise System (JES), a radical new approach to enterprise infrastructure software bringing the best in Java Web and application services together;

• SCT Banner, the most-used higher education integrated administration system, and;

• SCT Luminis, a suite of portal, content management, and integration solutions that help Universities unify the digital campus.

"Sun and SunGard SCT have a long-standing relationship and share the same vision and commitment to helping universities around the world build a digital campus. Together, we're helping create a networked campus environment that will provide students and teachers with better tools to enrich the learning experience, and help administrators streamline processes for students, faculty and staff," said Mehmet Iyimen, Managing Director, Sun Microsystems Middle East & North Africa (MENA).

"This new showcase demonstrates how schools can easily deploy the software and access the services to support the Unified Digital Campus. Now schools can focus their attention on improving the education experience, rather than solving complex computing problems," Iyimen ended.