Internet Access in Research and Educational Institutions in Africa.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. BACKGROUND OF STUDY 3. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 4. BANDWITH AT THE UNIVERSITIES 5. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

 According to the Data Development Group of the World Bank, ICT infrastructure in Ghana is progressing as compared to other low-income countries globally and above the 1.1% average for Sub Saharan Africa (Martey, 2004).  The government of Ghana and other agencies have over the years made several strides to develop the ICT infrastructure so as to bridge the digital divide between Ghana and the developed world.

 The introduction of ICT into universities has changed the way education and research is conducted.  ICT paves the way for a new pedagogical approach, where students are expected to play a more active role than before (Alabi, 2004).  ICT enhances research, teaching and learning in campuses in a variety of ways.

 There have been a number of factors impeding the wholesale uptake of ICT in education across all sectors. These include;  lack of funding for the necessary infrastructure,  lack of training among established teaching and research practitioners,  lack of motivation and need among teachers and researchers to adopt ICT as a tool (Starr, 2001).  Inadequate Bandwidth for internet access.

 The high cost of bandwidth, inadequate and unreliable telecommunication services and applications still remains a major challenge.  Moreover even when service providers offer bandwidths to educational institutions it is most often unreliable with low service availability times.  According to Aguele (2007), until universities in developing countries in Africa come together on country basis to demand a dedicated pipe for direct supply the issue of service providers surcharging them may never end.

 But in recent times, factors have emerged which have strengthened and encouraged moves to adopt ICTs into classrooms and research settings.  These include:  A growing need to explore efficiencies in terms of program delivery,  The opportunities for flexible delivery provided by ICTs (Oliver & Short, 1997),

 The capacity of technology to provide support for customized educational programs to meet the needs of individual learners (Kennedy & McNaught, 1997),  The growing use of the Internet and World Wide Web as tools for information access and communication (Oliver & Towers, 1999),  According to the Data Development Group of the World Bank, ICT infrastructure in Ghana is progressing as compared to other low-income countries globally and above the 1.1% average for Sub Saharan Africa (Martey, 2004).  The government of Ghana and other agencies have over the years made several strides to develop the ICT infrastructure so as to bridge the digital divide between Ghana and the developed world.

 UCC currently has a point to point fibre optic network and linked the major departments and research units to the computing centre that serves as the hub of the network.  The university Network is linked to the international gateway by 4mbs link to Ghana Telecom.  The university has two campuses, southern campus and northern campus.  The two campuses are linked by a point to point 2.4GHz wireless radio which provides a bandwidth of 54mb/s.  The computing Centre provides web directory and services to the staff and student of the university.  The unit also maintains and update the university website and directory. University of Cape-Coast (UCC)

 UCC started with a modest bandwidth of 64kbs in 1996 and has a total bandwidth of 4mbs as at December  Bandwidth in the nineties was expensive and therefore the university could purchase a few megabit of international gateway.  However, with the introduction of the International Fiber Optic Gateway (SAT3), UCC was able to purchase 128 kbs in the Year 2004.In the Year 2006 the university for the first time could afford 1mbs.  Within three years the university has been able to quadruple its bandwidth to 4mbs.

 UCC as at 2009 spends 26 % of its total ICT Central expenditure on bandwidth.  This left 74% for ICT infrastructure and maintenance.  The 74 % of its budget was pushed into the maintenance of the ICT Centre.  The student technology fee constituted 32 % of the total ICT central income and the 68 % was from foreign student fees and Internal Generated Fund. ICT Resource Allocation

 UG currently has a fibre optic that links all departments and research units to the Network Operation Centre.  About, 30% of the network is connected to digital subscriber line system which has a 2mbs bandwidth.  The university Network is linked to the international gateway by 10mbs link to Ghana Telecom and 7mbs redundancy VSAT link.  The university links its 3 campuses by a multi-point to point 2.4GHz wireless radios which provides a bandwidth of 54mb/s to each of the campuses.

 UG started with a modest bandwidth of 64kbs in 1996 and has a total bandwidth of 17mbs as at December  Bandwidth in the first eight years was expensive and therefore the university could purchase a few megabit of international gateway.  However, with the introduction of international Fiber optic gateway (SAT3), UG was able to afford 2mbs in the Year 2004/2005

 UG as at 2009 spends 57% of its total ICT Central expenditure on bandwidth.  This left 43% for ICT infrastructure and Maintenance.  The student technology fee constituted 60 % of the total ICT central income and the 40 % was from foreign student fees and Internal Generated Fund.  It is clearly seen that student levy was key in supporting bandwidth growth on campus. ICT Resource Allocation

 KNUST currently has a fully redundant fibre optic network which links all departments and research units to the Network Operation Centre.  The university Network is linked to the international gateway by 10mbs link to Vodafone Sat3 fibre network and 3mbs VSAT redundant link.  The Clinical Hostel is linked to the main campus by a point to point 2.4GHz wireless radios providing a bandwidth of 54mb/s for intranet and internet application.  The university has currently linked all students’ residential facilities with wireless hotspot facility.  The university currently hosts the online national repository of the country.  Thesis, journals, “The Ghana collections’’ and other educational materials all over the country are being converted from hard copy to digital copies.

 KNUST started with a modest bandwidth of 64kbs in 1999 and has a total bandwidth of 13mbs as at December  Bandwidth in the first six years was expensive and therefore the university could purchase a few megabit of international gateway.  However, with the introduction of International Fiber Optic Gateway (SAT3), KNUST could afford 3mbs in the Year 2005.

 KNUST as at 2009 spends 70% of its total ICT Central expenditure on bandwidth.  This left 30% for ICT infrastructure and Maintenance.  The student technology fee constituted 34 % of the total ICT central income and the 66 % was from foreign student fees and Internal Generated Fund.  It was clearly seen that student levy was key in supporting bandwidth growth on campus. ICT Resource Allocation

 The study concludes that in order to manage ICT effectively and efficiently, the university management must have a business aligned IT policy with total stakeholder involvement and ownership. Additionally, it was also realised that the challenges facing ICT management can be solved if the problems are prioritized and the solution properly planned. The researcher also realised that proper management of ICT and its related challenges can give the prospective university a competitive advantage over its peers. 

 Align IT Strategy with the university’s strategic objectives  Establish a Comprehensive ICT Policy  Prioritise ICT Governance and Leadership  Formation of Consortia for Bandwidth  Formation of Educational Research Network  Funding Priority