Browse
related articles
By Yi Xiang, President of Huawei Middle East
For the billions plugging into the information superhighway each day, the evolution of communication services in the past year has been defined not by a single event but rather a persistent cycle of innovation. We are living through a particularly exhilarating time here in UAE as decisions are made daily about the kinds of ICT infrastructure that will impact communities in the field of healthcare, environment and public services for the next decade and beyond.
This is especially true when looking at the marriage between broadband technology and today's educational system. New broadband platforms such as fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and LTE are already laying the foundation necessary to meet the UAE's demands for more collaborative voice and data-driven services. As a tool fundamental to a knowledge-based society, one of the challenges we now need to confront is how to implement services in a manner through which digital inclusion is prioritised across the social spectrum.
ICT services now indispensable for academic community
In education, not only have ICT services become indispensable—they have literally transformed the academic community by enabling the rapid sharing of knowledge. We see more and more continuing education institutions and remote vocational training programs emerging every year.
Education departments at all levels must share and synchronise their teaching resources and content. Remote access to scientific resources and virtual collaborations with transnational colleagues are but a few of the methods through which we have already seen such institutes significantly widen their offerings through broadband access.
Much of this has been due to the introduction of "cloud" platforms that can combine on-demand computing and storage while hosting powerful web-based tools. Global research group IDC has recently noted that private cloud adoption, in particular, has been gaining widespread attention in the region; driven by the impact of cloud technology on cost, efficiency and more agile resource deployment. Virtualising information in this way requires the kinds of high-speed, large-scale bandwidth that only broadband can provide.
Nations like UAE stand to benefit especially as broadband networks can break down traditional barriers of distance and location, allowing innovators from both the East and West to be linked anytime, anywhere. Groups such as Ankabut—the UAE's National Research and Education Network (NREN)—are now working diligently to leverage broadband connectivity in higher education by connecting UAE schools and universities to each other as well as global institutes.
In 2010, the UAE Education Ministry also set in motion the E-Learning Gateway initiative, announcing last year that all UAE public schools will have e-learning platforms by 2016.
The fact is that all these efforts will need to be supported by high-speed broadband as no other alternatives can bring all these initiatives and people together.
The UAE is on its way, now ranked second globally as the most fibre-optic connected nation according to FTTH Council Europe, with Abu Dhabi hailed as one of the world's first fibre-connected capital cities.
Staff
