ISLAMABAD: Microsoft Pakistan and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have signed an education transformation agreement (ETA) to help academic institutions leverage new technologies in the learning process.

According to a press release, the agreement was signed at a virtual meeting held between HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri and Vice President Education, Microsoft, Europe Middle East and Africa Mark East and other key executives from both sides.

Under the ETA framework, Microsoft will collaborate with universities, helping them in their digital transformation journey through a strategic technology framework implementation that helps them build a secure and connected campus, promotes teaching and learning activities.

During the pandemic, the HEC has been providing remote learning solutions to drive continuity for academic activities in universities. To support the same initiative, Microsoft collaborated with HEC in bringing more than 100 universities and 500,000 plus students to a digital hub of Microsoft Teams that brings conversations content, assignments, and apps together at one place, letting educators create vibrant learning environment.

Through this agreement, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure, will be accessible to the universities and will provide the ability to transform their IT infrastructure with the latest cloud offerings.

Microsoft will also provide consultancy to universities to adopt Microsoft dynamics 365 platforms for their finance and operations and Campus Management solution requirements.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2021