La Trobe unveils technology investment with Cisco, Optus Enterprise

La Trobe University has partnered with Cisco and Optus Enterprise to transform its digital infrastructure and underlying network and become a resilient digital university. This transformation of La Trobe’s digital infrastructure forms part of a wider strategic partnership with Cisco and Optus, involving the development of the university’s Bundoora campus in Melbourne into a University City of the Future, incorporating a ‘Living Lab’ and other key initiatives, including joint research and innovation through the establishment of a Digital Innovation Hub and advancement of critical digital workforce skills in areas including cybersecurity.

The digital infrastructure project was devised following the publication of an independent Australian national study commissioned by Cisco with Optus, titled ‘The Tipping Point for Digitisation of Education Campuses’, and a subsequent digital transformation proposal aimed at accelerating seamless connection of the university’s digital services for students and the community. Investment in the proposal was endorsed as part of the university’s transformation program, with an initial focus on a next-generation network transformation through Cisco and Optus.

The technology transformation includes transitioning to a software defined network (SDN) which allows for greater control and ease for managing resources virtually; optimising the application experience with capacity to monitor applications running on the network as well as evolving its digital services, to support the community and hybrid working and learning. This will enable La Trobe to be more responsive to changing demands at its Melbourne and regional campuses, while providing a major boost to its cybersecurity resilience and capacity to innovate.

La Trobe’s Vice-Chancellor John Dewar AO said the university’s decision to transform its underlying technology infrastructure is a major step towards creating a university that is more resilient and adaptive to the changing landscape or higher education. Professor Dewar added that the university aims to further improve the student experience, achieve net zero emissions by 2029, increase its research impact and continue to improve its global reputation. “None of these goals are achievable without a commitment to digitally transform the university, and I look forward to working with our partners Cisco and Optus to help make this a reality,” Professor Dewar said.

Cisco Australia and New Zealand Vice President Ben Dawson noted that the pandemic has accelerated the pace of digitisation in every industry sector; for the education sector, this includes a need to review hybrid work and learning, improve security posture, expand digital capability throughout buildings and enable new innovative digital services.

“Research commissioned by Cisco revealed that the list of must-have technologies and digital services is growing, whether that be in teaching and learning, research or administration. The research indicated many Australian universities considered digital upgrades to be a priority,” Dawson said.

Chris Mitchell, Managing Director of Optus Enterprise, said the partnership with La Trobe University and Cisco will usher in a new era of digital transformation that will have a positive impact on students, faculty and staff. “As we’ve learned over the past year, universities, just like businesses, must be able to adopt a hybrid way of learning. La Trobe’s investment into a next-generation network will ensure their staff and students have a seamless digital experience on campus and remotely in regional campuses,” Mitchell said.

This investment will form part of La Trobe’s $5 billion University City of the Future, incorporating a Living Lab; using the campus as a living test and experimentation lab, enabled by Cisco’s technology. The Living Lab will also strive to understand the role of technology as it relates to sustainability and supply chain. Cisco-La Trobe Research Chair in AI and IoT Professor Wei Xiang said the net zero focus represents the combination of two significant challenges: rapid digitisation and the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with technology as an enabler. Professor Xiang added that La Trobe’s City of the Future is an ideal environment to develop and test existing and emerging Cisco technologies that can help organisations reach their net zero and emissions reduction goals.

“By treating the entire campus as a Living Lab, we can develop and test in a controlled environment and scale into operational settings. The scope is enormous with early opportunities relating to building management system optimisation, lighting innovations, waste reduction and energy analytics,” Professor Xiang said.

The Digital Innovation Hub, located within La Trobe University’s Research and Innovation Precinct, is due for completion in 2022, with funding from the Victorian Government. The Hub will connect La Trobe and its technology partners, Cisco and Optus, with businesses to improve their processes, products and services through the use of digital technologies and the development of digital workforce skills.

This technology investment builds on the established partnership and includes the National Industry Innovation Network, and a shared Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, with focus on Cisco technology enabling in Australia. “This partnership demonstrates how academia and industry can work together to create opportunities to solve real-world problems, through technology innovation,” Dawson said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/vegefox.com