HEQEP Project

Project Title: Establishment of Information Technology Research and Resource Center (ITRRC) in IU-Kushtia

Location (office/site) of the Sub-project: Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh.

Project Manager: Dr. Paresh Chandra Barman, Associate Professor, and Chairman, Dept. of Information and Communication Engineering, IU-Kushtia.

General Objectives of the Sub-project

The Information Technology (IT) revolution touches almost every aspect of Higher Education. Information is at the very heart of a university’s core mission, which is the creation, preservation, dissemination, and application of knowledge. The Information Technology Research and Resource Center (ITRRC) at Islamic University Kushtia will be keen about staying in line with the rapid changes and latest advancements in the field of Information technology. Technology will be spread into the library, the research lab, the residence hall, and the classroom. Indeed, Information Technology has redefined the concept of the classroom and the campus as a virtual space rather than merely a physical one.

Islamic University (IU), Kushtia including with the affiliated Fazil and Kamil Madrasahs all over Bangladesh is the second largest university in Bangladesh. Similar to the situation at many Universities, the explosion of information technology use at IU-Kushtia is increasing and occurring in a largely distributed fashion, leading to operational main campus and Madarashas. A network infrastructure will be established new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and learning management (LMS) systems strain the University’s finances and operational capacities.

What emerges from surveys, focus groups, and planning discussions is the sense that IU-Kushtia is at a strategic decision point with information technology, if the University is to pursue its strategic plan and vision for excellence. We are already at the point where we are ready to establish our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure to provide acceptable quality of service to the University community. Strong leadership, coordinated University-wide efforts, and adequate investments in technological infrastructure and professional skills development are required for IU-Kushtia to utilize information technology to accomplish its strategic goals. The purpose of this University-wide information technology strategic plan is to provide a framework for that investment, leadership, and coordinated effort.

This project will establish eight general objectives or goals for the use of information technology at Islamic University Kushtia. The first six objectives concentrate on the utility and transforming nature of information technology in using technology in support of the University’s strategic goals. The final two goals concentrate on the prudent management and effective use of information technology to address the associated risk and expense. The objectives are as follows:

1. Provide an effective and efficient IT infrastructure for Islamic University (IU) Kushtia.

2. Use information technology to enrich the educational experience of students by enhancing the quality of learning, access to learning, student services, and student engagement in the University community.

3. Use information technology to provide an environment that enables leading-edge scholarship and research by faculty and students.

4. Use information technology to enable the University to provide high-quality information and services to its clients and partners, and to conduct University operations/functions effectively and efficiently.

5. Upgrade its Central Library system to digitization and automation system.

6. Provide IT based monitoring cells for the administrative heads: Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Treasurer of IU-Kushtia, by automation of administrative, academic, office of P&D and accounts respectively.

7. Provide a quality, reliable, sustainable, consistent, and secure information technology infrastructure that enables contemporary teaching, learning, research, service, and administrative operations to flourish. Different teams (such as Information Strategy and Policy research, Knowledge Information research, Information Analysis, High Performance Computing, Planning & Developing) of Information Technology Research and Resourse Centre (ITRRC) will be worked to ensure the quality, reliability, sustainability, consistency and security of information resources and IT infrastructures.

8. By arranging several seminar and workshop the ambiguities and fear in technological complexity will be reduced of the university communities and ensure that all staffs are skilled to be able to productively use information technology appropriately and effectively.