COMPUTER SERVICES / INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY CENTRE

MTU plans to use information and communication technology to greatly enhance the learning process of the students. Lecturers will be trained to use ICT tools to deliver their lectures. Other staff will be trained to use ICT tools deployed for e-administration. State-of-the-art ICT facilities will be deployed to provide opportunities for staff  and students to gain extensive experience of using computers both in the production and execution of their programmes through computer-aided learning techniques. To this end an ICT directorate will be established with the appointment of an ICT director and staff to plan and execute all the ICT projects in the institutions.

ICT Objectives and Goals
i. Provision of computer facilities for the entire university community and especially for supporting training of computer scientists and other students offering computer science services related courses.

1. Promotion of computer appreciation within the university by assisting individual users and user departments in identifying scientific, technical, research and management problems solvable by the application of computer techniques.
2. Design, development, implementation and maintenance of appropriate software systems to support conventional data processing and computer applications.
3. Development and maintenance of data bank with students and staff records Implementation of “College Portal” solution for:
4. Development and management information system with appropriate security for the administration of the university.
5. Development and management of an electronic learning system in the university.
6. Provision of Internet services.

Strategies and Processes of Implementation
in implementing the ICT objectives at the Mountain Top University, the following work plan, detailing the strategies and processes of implementation will be followed:

ICT Infrastructure & Activities
Training Programmes at The ICT Training Center
The ICT Center of the Institution will carry out regular training programmes in computer literacy, computer appreciation and programming to all categories of staff and students. It will also carry out computer education generally at the non-degree level to the public for the award of professional diplomas.

ICT Center
As the University proposes to commence with about 360 students, it would acquire a total of at least 120 personal computers at take-off. Hence making at least one desktop computer available to three students. Computer rooms will be provided in each college.

Computers already provided for ICT Center
The ICT Center is already  equipped with 50 HP Desktop Computers with state-of-the-art Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E5300(2.0 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache) with  320GB Hard Drives and 2GB RAM. The systems also come preloaded with properly licensed versions of Windows® 7 Professional(with XP downgrade option), the latest Operating system software from Microsoft Cooperation. The Computers are networked with high speed wireless network 802.11g technology with special speed boost from 54Mbps standard to 108Mbps and 150Mbps.

Computers already provided for E-Library
The E-Library is already  equipped with 20 HP Desktop Computers with state-of-the-art Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E5300(2.0 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache), 320GB Hard Drives and 2GB RAM, preloaded with Windows® 7 Professional. The computers are networked with high speed wireless network 802.11g technology with special speed boost from 54Mbps standard to 150Mbps. The systems are also connected to the Internet via the institution's Cisco Unified Wireless Network.

MTU's Cisco Unified Wireless Network Backbone with Provision for Redundant Fibre Optic Backbone.
The Institution has embarked on the Deployment of a robust Cisco Unified Network to allow for effective Data & Voice Communication among the academic and administrative departments with varying security profiles. The Cisco Catalyst 4507R E-Series with Supervisor 6-Enhanced (WS-X45-Sup6-E) will serve as the core switch for the campus. This switch has a Twin Gigabit uplink for Fibre optic backbone network that will serve as an alternative to the existing wireless network that interconnects the buildings. It will also have a 48 Port Gigabit RJ45 Ethernet Module with enhanced PoE (WS-X4648-RJ45V+E) to accommodate future upgrade to Cisco 802.11n APs which require more than the standard 15 watt PoE power. The core switch has provision for a redundant power supply for backup purposes. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 in the e-Library also has dual Fibre uplink ports for connection to the university's future Fibre optic backbone.

The Wireless Backbone of the institution is implement on the 5GHz (802.11a) band of  the using Dual-band Cisco Aironet 1242AG Access Points in a Point-to multi-point configuration. The 2.4GHz (802.11b/g) band of these APs are used to provide client access along with other 802.11g indoor APs.

All buildings in the university will be integrated into the Cisco Unified Wireless Networks from the start. These include the Administrative block, the Library and the Computer Laboratory which will have their own individual full coverage Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). The other college buildings will also be connected to the the Cisco Unified Wireless Network. They will also have limited WLAN hotspots initially with full coverage within the college building coming later.

Each network will be linked to the Internet via High speed Internet access using the Cisco Unified Wireless Network to connect to the point of presence of our ISP (Multi-links/Telkom) in the Prayer City. Internet access points will be provided at the Student Center and Hostels. There is already a high capacity Fibre Optic connection to the Internet installed by Multi-links/Telkom within the prayer city. It is from this Point-of-Presence (PoP) that the university will receive its dedicated 2MB Fibre Optic connection to the Internet.

Administration of The ICT Directorate
The ICT Directorate which is the major vehicle to plan, implement and maintain all ICT related projects within the institution will be divided into four (4) sections viz:
i. Management Information Systems
ii. Network & Communication
iii. IT Support & Help Desk
iv. e-Learning Support & Development

These divisions will render various services in areas such as support, analysis, systems design and system development for the various units of the University. The Management Information Systems division will undertake the design, development and writing of computer programs, personnel information systems, management of the institutions e-Portal and IT facilities. Management of student bio-data and academic records and planning and budgeting systems.

The e-Learning Support & Development division will work together with the MIS division and the consultants to develop and present training content that will promote and accelerate the use of the university's student e-Portal, e-administration and e-health modules among all cadre of the university community for full online administration of the institution.

The ICT Network & Communication division will provide internet facilities for staff and students in the University through a well equipped and fully functional ICT Center and powerful Cisco Unified Network that is capable of delivering high-speed data, voice and video with the expected quality of service. These effective Information & Communication Technology infrastructure facilities will be fully in place right from the inception of the University.

COMPUTER LABORATORY
The computer laboratory will be equipped with 50 computers at commencement. A maintenance bay with facilities for hardware maintenance will also be part of the laboratory and will service computers located at other facilities on campus.

COMPUTERS INSTALLED AT E-LIBRARY
20 computers have already been installed at the e-Library section of the Library and more will be installed later. Computers will also be sprinkled throughout the library. All this is to allow students to visit the virtual libraries, search for materials online and facilitate access to varied and timely information.

WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK AT E-LIBRARY AND ICT CENTER
A WLAN has also been setup in the ICT Center and the e-library. This connects the e-library and the different parts of the library to the the rest of the institution and the Internet via the Cisco Unified Network

Access to the Internet in the Library and Computer Laboratory and the Digial Center will be for a fee. The ICT Center will be staffed by workers on shift to allow for extended browsing hours for students and for weekend browsing.

POWER PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
For the safe-keeping of equipment from damage by power surges, groups of 5KW stabilizers and 5KVA Inverters will be provided to protect and provide backup power for the servers and all the desktop systems. This will help to minimize the risk of damage to hard drives and power packs.

Telecommunication and Voice Over IP (VoIP)
One of the advantage of deploying a cisco unified network is end-to-end QoS guarantee on voice and video communication. A modern Integrated Service Router (ISR) Cisco 2811 with an advanced IP image and VSEC Bundle with PVDM2-16 hardware to support voice processing will be deployed at the data Center to support full fledged VoIP communication in the institution. Cisco Call manager express licence (FL-CCME) loaded on the 2811 ISR router will enable voice over IP communication within the administrative building, library ICT Center and other parts of the institution.

There is also good signal coverage of the campus environment by the three major GSM providers (MTN, GLO & Zain) and CDMA networks (like Multi-Links/Telkom and visa phone). All the Principal Officers of the university will have direct telephone connections. All the principal officers and senior academic staff will be networked under the Management Information System. They will access to the university e-Portal, online-library and the Internet. In addition Multi-links/Telkom has offered to provide whatever bandwidth upgrades the institution needs at a competitive rate
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University Website
A website has been deployed to provide for institutional web presence and to communicate our information and values to the outside world. It is also a gateway for the institutions e-Portal

University E-Portal
In order to meet the goal of an ICT driven 21st century institution an e-Portal is being deployed to with the following functions:

1. e-payment and e-commerce: to enhance financial activities
2. e-learning:     to enhance academic activities
3. e-administration: to enhance administrative activities
4. e-health: to enhance health care
5. e-agriculture is also being looked into for deployment in the future.

The Library will also provide access to National Universities Commission (NUC) virtual library, NUNET and various Management Information Systems. A list of library holdings will also be available on line.