King Abdulaziz University (KAU) has selected solutions from SunGard Higher Education, a global provider of software solutions, strategic consulting and technology management, to help create a connected digital environment that will help transform the institution into a major centre of excellence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. International Turnkey Systems (ITS), a leading provider of integrated information technology solutions and software services, will lead the implementation project in close consultation with SunGard Higher Education.
"As one of the largest universities in the Middle East, information technology is fundamental to our strategy at KAU and we are engaging leading technology solution providers such as SunGard Higher Education and ITS to help us achieve our vision," said KAU's Rector, Professor Osama S. Tayyeb. "This project is a testament to our long-term commitment to create a global centre of excellence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and thus prepare graduates to cope with the changing needs of the knowledge economy in the region."
Specifically, KAU will deploy solutions from the Banner Digital Campus including Banner Student, Banner Financial Aid, Banner Advancement, Banner Workflow, Banner Operational Data Store and the Luminis Platform from SunGard Higher Education. All of these solutions will help KAU create a digital campus with collaborative communities and virtual research portals for students, researchers and faculty. Furthermore, the digital campus will help administrators work more efficiently as they connect with other campus systems and resources. It will also support business processes needed for knowledge sharing, awarding financial aid and communication with alumni.
"As one of the largest universities in the Gulf region, KAU has taken on an important role in championing the region's mission for improved quality of and access to higher education," said Mathew Boice, vice president, EMEA and India, SunGard Higher Education. "This project is not only helping improve the educational experience for Saudi students, it is also the first step toward building a standardized version of the Banner Digital Campus administrative system for higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
To further its strategic commitment to education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KAU plans to play a central role in defining the Saudi Banner User Group, bringing the user community together and leading an initiative to create a standard Saudi version of Banner Student. This would allow all Saudi universities using SunGard Higher Education's Banner Student solution to use the same localized version of the software and continue to enhance Banner to support emerging university needs.
"As a supporter of the rapidly growing higher education sector in the region, ITS is proud to be part of this project. It strengthens our resolve, based on our philosophy for an integrated digital campus environment that we call 'one campus,' to continue deploying our technical expertise to help build first rate learning environments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the region," said Khalid Al Amiri, Gulf Regional Director, ITS. "As a company we are committed to supporting the development of education. ITS is a major employer across the region and is proud to recruit talented graduates from the Universities that we serve."
