ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) in a Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) meeting approved a project for computerization and networking enhancement of University of the Punjab, Lahore.

According to a statement issued here on Monday, the project amounting to Rs34 million will be completed in a period of one year.

The HEC has launched the project to upgrade and strengthen networking facilities at the university. It will provide internal automation for the recently launched “Education Internet Project” plan interconnecting public and private sector universities and the HEC with each other.

Under this project, the university will extend its existing network infrastructure to various departments, hostels and residential area by laying fibre optic cable, providing dial-up internet facilities through university’s ISP and DXX connection to the Old Campus situated in the city.

The major objective of the project is to automate the routine work of all the departments through LAN/WAN customized database.

The office automation will be introduced by replacing physical file system with computer-based file system, which will not only facilitate the research activity but also help promote IT educational culture in various disciplines at all levels.

University of the Punjab is the fourth oldest university of the subcontinent and it is playing a leading role in imparting quality education both in public and private sector.

In addition to university departments, it has 754 degree- awarding colleges in arts and sciences affiliated with it for examination and degree granting purposes.

These colleges have enrolled over 340,000 students, therefore the automaton of the university procedures by enhancing the efficiency and productivity of the university will facilitate a large number of education seekers.

Currently, Punjab University has a 6.5km long optical fibre network in Quaid-i-Azam (New) Campus, which only serves a small number of academic and administrative blocks.

The upgradation and expansion of the system will facilitate other departments, residents in hostels and teachers colony, day scholars (through dial-up facility) and students/scholars at Allama Iqbal (Old) Campus.

Under the project, foolproof arrangements will be made to provide a host of facilities, including 24-hour connectivity to faculty and students, availability of literature in the form of online journals, databases, and books; access to various libraries/laboratories throughout the world, interaction with faculty/researches at national and international level etc.

A complete website of the university will also be developed, which will be upgraded regularly. It will contain commonly required information for the students and general public regarding education policies, rules and regulations, scholarships, news and press releases, job opportunities, tender documents etc.

By providing internet facilities to all the students, research scholars and employees, the university aims at introducing video conferencing, formation of discussion groups/fora, teachers-students dialogue and provision of several other related facilities.

The hub of activities will be the Information Technology Centre. The university will also manage databases, operate LAN/WAN and provide support services to all the users.