Information Comm. & Technology

Directorate of Information Communication & Technology

As contained in the act that established the University, the University is expected to use modern information and communications technology and other educational tools to drive its programmes wherever possible.

The ICT Directorate is responsible for the development and deployment of ICT services and infrastructure which supports the University’s teaching, learning, research and administrative activities.

The Directorate is expected to support all Faculties and Directorates with innovative products and services that will enhance their productivity and research activities.

Currently the ICT Directorate is providing the following services at the main campus and all the satellite campuses of the University:

Electronic Services in all the lecture rooms: these include projectors, electronic boards and Audio Visual services.
E-Learning solution to the university.
Internet services
Library Management
Local area network and Wide area network servicesLibrary Management
Academic and Student’s record system

Website management and support
Financial Management Software
Technical and repairs services
Infrastructure (Network and hosting of Servers)
Video Coverage and Multimedia Services.

Patrick de Souza

Director, ICT

Mr. Patrick de Souza assumed office as Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT) at UHAS, effective August 1, 2022. He has over 20 years of extensive experience leading, managing and directing projects and initiatives that transform business processes while meeting or exceeding expectations.

He is a results-oriented technical visionary, a dynamic and dedicated business professional with proven ability to oversee and direct Information Technology (IT) systems, business processes, and to pursue new ideas in IT delivery and management.

Prior to joining UHAS, Mr. de Souza worked in ICT leadership for several reputable organisations, including: Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet); ThirdRail Ghana Limited; Amalgamated Network Services Limited (ANS); Standard Chartered Bank (Ghana) Limited; and DIGITRONIX Systems Limited.

His areas of expertise include: Project Management; System Design and Development; Strategic Planning; Change Management; Information Security Management; Quality Management; Data Center Build and Management; Vendor Management; Document and Records Management; Team Building/Leadership; Contract Negotiation; Training; Process Improvement/Evaluation; Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Facilities and General Services Management, among others.

Mr. de Souza understands the vision and business of clients. He brings a proven reputation in leading, directing, mentoring and motivating project teams on multiple projects as well as building effective relationships with business and technical stakeholders to develop innovative solutions while consistently achieving empowering results for the client. These solutions have been proven to be cost effective, efficient, user-driven, robust and scalable.

Our focus is to lead and support the use of ICT to enhance academic and research potentials in the university. The ICT Directorate has been at the forefront to discover new tools and products that will serve the University community and protect her Electronic Infrastructure.

This the Directorate pursue aggressively though the involvement in planning and implementation of all ICT related activities of all the units in the university and collaborating with sister institutions to share ideas and create opportunities for the University.

Finally, to leverage on the institutions ICT resources for efficient and efficacious use to the competitive advantage of the University.

There are four major departments expected to be built in the ICT Directorate and these are:

1. Data Centre/ IT Security: This unit is responsible for hosting all applications (software solutions in the university) and serves as the concentration point of all applications and communication devices. This unit is also responsible for the security of the University’s information systems.

2. Enterprise Infrastructure / Networking: Responsible for the installation of the University’s campus network and all telecommunication services such as telephone, Video Conferencing, VoIP etc.

3. Application and Collaborative Technology/User Support: Responsible for policy planning, Licensing, Product documentation, Project management, Students support, Lectures support, Lecture room maintenance, End-user computing and Helpdesk support.

4. Enterprise Application and Solution Integration: Responsible for the Development, deployment and testing of new applications, end user application computing and application integration. Web application development and testing.

The Directorate has four main sites with ICT offices providing myriad of services. These are:

Permanents site : Hosting the main ICT Data Centre and Applications such as Students Record Management System, Financial Management System, Active Directory System.

There is a planned backbone connectivity to link all the satellite campuses together. But currently there is LAN (Local Area Network) connectivity at all the campuses Hohoe, Ho (Dave, Trafalgar and permanent site).

All these network connectivity are linked to the internet

Electronic Lab (Electronic lab at the permanent site and Dave)
Most of the Lecture halls are fitted with projectors and Electronic boards.
Servers , routers and other communication devices

Deployed Online Students application, and Student’s Record Management System.
Deployed and implemented the Financial Managements System to Support the Finance Directorate.
Network installation on all the campuses (LAN).
Installation of teaching Aids in most the Lecture halls.
Pilot installation and Deployment of E-learning Platform.

The directorate intends to acquire software tools that will serve all units and faculties in the University to enhance their productivity.

The summary of planned activities for the Directorate could be broadly classified as follows:

1. Improvement of Existing Systems Performance and Security by:

a. installing additional Wi-Fi devices to improve existing coverage areas and extension to new buildings.

b. installing firewall and Corporate Antivirus to secure the University’s network resources.

c. Bandwidth Management Systems to monitor, resolve network problems and give priorities to some users and mission-critical systems on the network.

2. Investment in ICT Communication Infrastructure by:

a. collaborating with Ministry of Communication to install fiber optic backbone to connect the new campuses at Sokode, Hohoe and Keta to UHAS Network (WAN).

b. providing a Data Centre at the permanent site and improve the existing Data Centre to serve as a disaster recovery site.

c. providing data communication, Internet and equipping lecture hall at all campuses.

3. Providing the appropriate Information Technology Systems that will enhance Teaching, Learning and Research work by:

a. Installing Video Conferencing facilities between Accra, Ho, Hohoe and other campuses and provision of video recording equipment for recording and dissemination of lectures on CDs.

b. leveraging on provision of mobile technology using Wi-Fi facility to improve learning, teaching and collaboration between students' lecturers and staff.

c. equipping all new lecture halls with appropriate electronic devices for teaching and learning.

d. providing of E-learning facilities.

e. installing a network version of Statistical Analysis software (STATA) and appropriate repository for the storage, analysis and retrieval of data collected for research work.

f. providing simulation systems for various schools:

• CAL software’s, Computerized Data Acquisition and Analysis System e.g. Biopac, Worx and others that maybe used to perform various exercises in Physiology practical/experiments

• Virtual Simulation Packages- for science experiments and for anatomy practical e.g. Real anatomy, R, Epi info for biostatistics and data analysis

4. Providing appropriate information systems platform and application systems to increase staff effectiveness and efficiency by:

a. deploying AutoCAD Systems for architectural drawings and printing for Works Physical Development Department.

It is expected that if funds and the resources are made available the university would rely on the use of ICT tools in very activity of the University.

The aim of the e-learning platform is to provide a technology driven tuition option to students and faculty of UHAS. While the aim is not to eliminate normal face-to-face contact between students and lecturers, the system is expected to supplement normal lectures by providing an avenue where students could readily access lectures at their leisure. It has been observed that for a number of reasons, students become distracted during normal lectures. Since lectures take place within specific periods, some students would have little opportunity to review what was taught if the lectures are not recorded and made available. UHAS was established with the intention of using technology to enhance teaching and learning. The use of the e-learning platform would therefore fulfil that strategic objective of the University through structured delivery of lectures, high quality video recordings of lectures, provision of adequate data storage, and deployment of a communication system that would allow both students and lecturers, irrespective of their location in the country, to have uninterrupted access to information available on the platform.

OBJECTIVES

Based on the above aim, the immediate objectives of Phase 1 of the e-learning platform are to:

1. Produce high quality video recordings of lectures, starting with First Year and Physician Assistant courses designed with the assistance of Universities outside the country.

2. Provide a platform where:

• Instruction materials such as notes and videos will be made available to students electronically

• Students and lecturers can collaborate and have meaningful discussions online

• Lecturers will be able to assess students electronically

3. Make the system accessible to lecturers and students located at the University's campuses initially but upon successful testing of the system, extend access to the whole nation and then onto the Internet.

4. Provide video conferencing facilities that will allow interactive delivery of lectures from one campus to another, and from other parts of the country and outside the country to UHAS

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

The MOODLE e-learning software, an Open source product has been installed and configured for this purpose.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

• VPN and APN HIGH-CAPACITY SERVERS that can be configured to enable full-scale deployment of the e-Learning platform

• LAPTOPS, TABLETS, ETC. using links to facilitate communication between the e-learning server and client devices

Due to the envisaged increase in number of staff and student population as well as the increase in the number of satellite campuses, there is the urgent need to deploy a uniform efficient and reliable network infrastructure that would support the academic, research and administrative work of the University at all campuses.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT

To establish interconnectivity between UHAS satellite campuses
To centralize UHAS Network Resources
To ensure data integrity on UHAS network
To ensure efficient utilization of network bandwidth and to reduce packet losses on the Network.

OBJECTIVES

Boost productivity
Share hardware resource
Increase internal and external communication and thereby improve the visibility of the University to the outside world
Reduce long term operational cost
Centralize IT infrastructure and Improve data security on UHAS enterprise network.

NATURE OF THE PROJECT

The project involves the installation and configuration of sophisticated hardware devices that Support Enterprise Network implementation such as Routers, Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switches as well as telecommunication carrier network (packet switching network), the deployment of Virtual Local Area Networks (VLAN’s) and documentation of the network.

IMPLEMENTATION

Due to financial constraints, the project is divided into three phases. However, all phases could be implemented simultaneously if adequate funding is obtained since the University now has the required manpower with technical abilities to do so.

PHASE 1

Phase one involves the implementation of a Wide Area Network to link the various campuses. After implementation of the first phase, remote offices will be able to have connectivity to the core network at the Main Campus for data communication. Communication between the University and other external entities would equally improve. However, the local network conditions at various campuses would remain the same with some degree of challenges.

PHASE 2

The Second Phase involves the extension of the Campus networks and to improve communication between various offices at the same campus.

PHASE 3

Implementation of the third phases of the project will eliminate broadcast Domains on Local Area Networks thereby improving bandwidth utilization and control Packet loss on the network. Staff and students will at this point begin to experience a smooth network connectivity for academic and administrative use.

The network topology and required hardware for the various phased have been provided below.

Although CISCO devices were used in developing the document, equivalent equipment from other vendors would be considered if they have the same level of performance as devices recommended.