Returning Back
to Campus
GITEX 2021 Participation
In 2021, we took part in GITEX exhibition. We introduced some of our services such as:
- UAEU Mobile App - UAEUBot App - Classroom of the future Moreover, we were honored by H.E Zaki Nusseibeh’s visit to us in GITEX exhibition.
Classroom of the Future
DoIT launched the Classroom of the Future in 2020 in cooperation with Cisco, as one of the most important initiatives of the UAE University during the Covid-19 pandemic, after returning to the university’s campus, the faculty members started using the Classroom of the Future, which offers many features supported by artificial intelligence, and it also supports hybrid education and provides a high-quality experience for both students in the classroom and those who are studying remotely.
Challenges
Supply Chain delays cause long lead times for IT hardware
Regardless of things opening back up from following our last year and a half of COVID-19, this virus is still (and will continue) to have repercussions for year 2021. One such consequence is regarding part shortages. At the outset of the pandemic, hearing “shortages” conjured up mental images of household goods and medical supplies – toilet paper (what a wild time), cleaners, hand sanitizer, soda, medical gowns, and medical-grade facemasks, while availability of those items has rebalanced. Laptops, monitors, docking stations, and GPUs started to fall short in supply. And now we’re seeing a delay in switches, servers, access points, firewalls, smartphones, and even cars. This situation forms a huge challenge for DoIT to meet the user and projects requirements. Shortages are expected to last into 2022. Additionally, there is a talk that the chip manufacturing companies were operating at full capacity before the pandemic, so not only do they need to catch up on a backlog, but they are also working to build new factories. Given that, they estimate that we will still be dealing with these delays through the middle of next year (at least).
Technical Support Services for Remote/On-site customers
During the past period, DoIT, like everyone else, was exposed to unusual circumstances and an unprecedented pandemic, which forced DoIT to race against time and workday by night to minimize the negative impact on the business continuity. One of the actions taken by DoIT to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the UAEU community was (and still) : - Extending Helpdesk working hours from 7:00 am – 8:00 pm - Adopting two types of technical support at the same time (Online & On-Site Support) The difficulty does not lie in these exceptional procedures but rather lies in the relatively long period (end of the year 2020 to the present time) during which the team is forced to continue providing technical support within these exceptional procedures with the limits of existing staff only without an increase in their number.