Melbourne Uni transitions to smart campuses

The University of Melbourne (UoM) is harnessing the Internet of Things (IoT) to build smart campuses with the help of Dell Boomi.

UoM has more than 50,000 students enrolled across seven campuses. Its vast set of applications — which includes its Financial and Employee System, Student Management Systems and online Learning Management Systems — are part of a hybrid environment.

The university is using the Boomi Master Data Hub (MDH), an integration platform-as-a-service, to create a centralised data synchronisation hub to link up its IT environment. The integration platform provides visibility into data quality and enables the coexistence of the university’s 700 applications to accelerate the delivery of new services.

This has enabled UoM to commence its transition to smart campuses and better utilise space. Data from smart sensors installed in selected buildings at UoM will be collected and transferred to the smart campus data repository, along with information from other relevant applications. Using these insights, it can determine how and when facilities are being used.

“Data consistency is a major challenge for organisations investing in digital transformation — especially in an industry like higher education where student attrition and policy issues place constant pressure on Australian universities to demonstrate the outcomes they can deliver,” said Nick Lambrou, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand at Boomi. “With the Boomi platform at the core of its applications tying all data together, UoM has developed the comprehensive scaffolding it needs to drive its digital evolution, allowing it to introduce new services sooner, while preparing its facilities for the next phase of its growth strategy.”

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