Ural Federal University Advances Applied Information Services Development Efforts
At the January meeting of the Academic Council the results of informatization of the university in 2023 and plans for 2024 were discussed. According to Andrey Poltavets, the Vice Rector for Information Technologies, this year special attention should be paid to the integration of the Novokoltsovsky campus into the IT infrastructure of the UrFU and import substitution in central infrastructure facilities. Details can be found in the latest issue of Ural Federal (No. 3, February 19).
Novokoltsovsky
Over the past year, much of the Directorate of Information Technologies’s efforts have been focused on commissioning and organizing support for the new facilities at the Novokoltsovsky campus. By the end of 2025 the buildings of the Graduate School of Economics and Management, the Engineering School of Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Control Systems, and the Specialized Education and Research Center will be completed. All these facilities will be equipped with high-quality Internet and integrated into the university network.
“In 2023, the challenging tasks of putting into operation the infrastructure in the campus buildings in Novokoltsovsky were solved. These include the deployment of optics from the building on Sofya Kovalevskaya to the community center in the new campus, and the start of training sessions in 35 multimedia classrooms in Novokoltsovsky in early October, and providing all students in the campus dormitories with Wi-Fi Internet access, etc.,” explained Andrey Poltavets.
The location of the campus poses certain difficulties, but the DIT is gradually solving the technical problems, including at the stage of designing the infrastructure of the facilities to be built.
Import Substitution
In 2023, the Directorate of Information Technology started planning the import substitution of technical support services and the Electronic Document Management System. The task of replacing the technical support service has been almost completed, and the project of migration to the new EDMS will start this year.
According to the Vice-Rector for Information Technologies, the current situation in the domestic software market is characterized by uncertainty and instability, which complicates the task.
There is also the problem of transition – the integration of new equipment into an existing environment that is unfamiliar to DIT staff, takes time to master, and often requires additional measures to adapt to the general system before it can be integrated into the existing IT landscape.
City Infrastructure
Last year the Directorate implemented the plan to repair and modernize the networks in the educational and student buildings of the university in Ekaterinburg. In particular, the reconstruction of networks on the second floor of the building at 51 Lenin Avenue, in two dormitories in Kominterna, and in two dormitories in Bolshakova was completed.
“Now students living in all 16 city student buildings are provided with quality internet access. We give our students a choice between free limited Internet access from the university and broadband from one of four providers Dom.ru, UMMC-Telecom, Convex and Erlang-Communications. This solution allows us to balance the load on the networks,” emphasized Andrey Poltavets.
In 2023, the DIT supported projects to reconstruct networks in the Sports Complex for Playing Sports and track and field arena (Manezh) buildings after renovation, in the Research, Education and Innovation Center for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, UrFU Medical Sanitary Unit, the building of the Institute of Physics and Technology and the building on S. Kovalevskaya, 5.
Digital Services
During the past year, many applied information services (IS) were improved and several new ones were tested and launched. According to the results of the rating of the most popular IS of 2023, the top 5 include financial services, electronic document management, IS “Priority-2030”, and contacts.
In the current year the DIT will continue to develop the system of applied information services. Thus, it is planned to develop the services of individualization of education, project-based learning and practice, a personal account of the partner, development of the service “Faculty Competition”. A number of services will be created specifically to support and ensure the educational process in Novokoltsovsky. The development and promotion of the mobile application for students (УрФУ.Учёба for Android and iOS users) will be continued.
Corporate Training
Last year, the objectives for the development of the corporate training system were fully accomplished, including the use of e-learning systems for teachers.
This year, the Directorate of IT plans to implement a project to integrate the rating evaluation system with the e-learning portal eLearn, complete the development of a PC program for faculty and staff “Effective work in the e-learning management system Moodle. Expert level” and online course “Effective work in the Partner’s Personal Cabinet” for managers of educational programs to test both products.