Today, the digital world is literally at our fingertips where we can live, study, and explore our everyday lives. Higher education is at the forefront of digital transformation in every sense of the word. Not only do educational institutions play a critical role in preparing students for the workforce of the future, but today's students are also part of a digitally savvy generation that expects seamless, intuitive experiences as part of a connected campus community.
A digitally connected campus is one that leverages the power of digitalization to provide an intuitive campus experience. A truly smart campus -Digital connection with the next generation,
For the next generation.
Students today choose institutions based on their perception of the campus experience as well as the institution's purpose and values. As you strive to become the campus of choice and provide students with an optimal campus experience where they can learn, live, and explore to the best of their ability, today's campuses must provide a more digital “space.” Likewise, faculty and staff also have their own expectations for their workspace so that they can focus on teaching or research purposes and promote the institution's mission. Now is the time to embrace the benefits of digital transformation. This allows institutions to leverage the latest technologies to increase excellence while reducing costs.
Investing in technology and smart infrastructure may seem impossible, but today's higher education leaders recognize the value of modernizing campus infrastructure to deliver immediate efficiencies and operational benefits while laying the right foundation for a smarter tomorrow.
Challenges to achieve excellence:
- Modernize your infrastructure and systems to make your facilities more competitive and predictable.
- Digitize to streamline operations and leverage technology to increase efficiency.
- Integrating technology into research + academic programs
However, aging campus facilities and infrastructure and deferred maintenance continue to complicate efforts to effectively achieve the campus' mission and meet the needs of the community. Nonetheless, students, faculty, and staff deserve excellence at their institutions, including excellence within these facilities, from classrooms and study spaces to residence halls and other shared campus spaces. Graduates want to return and celebrate campus life and success, and even contribute financially to the future of the campus.
The need to create a roadmap for a smart campus has never been clearer. This is about leveraging the power of smart buildings and digitalization to make them more connected, efficient and sustainable. For example, today's smart campus is an automated and smart campus with optimized comfort and lighting provided whenever and wherever needed, along with wayfinding for open yet safe living and learning spaces. Smart campuses also adopt renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV) charging through microgrids, which provide greater resilience to help achieve campus decarbonization commitments. As the requirements for future workforce skills change, we can also put the built environment to work by showcasing real-world solutions, research, and hands-on learning opportunities.
A smart, digitally connected campus not only enables more efficient and sustainable operations, but also provides rich educational opportunities for students and faculty. Your state-of-the-art facility serves as a real-life laboratory providing experiential learning and collaboration space. Today's smart campus is digitally connected to the next generation, For the next generation.
By taking the right steps today, we can transform our education infrastructure to be smarter, safer, more sustainable and more resilient, supporting top-tier academic programs and innovative research facilities. In turn, this can lead to increased efficiency, increased comfort and reduced operating costs.