14 May 2015
Senior decision makers and practitioners from information technology, library and teaching and learning leaders in higher education gathered at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) this week for The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA) 2015 conference.
More than 500 innovators and 200 sponsor representatives and vendors converged on the Gold Coast to discuss the delivery of information technology services and share ideas on how to better the way our scholars communicate, create, connect and consume information.
The four day biennial event, hosted by Griffith University on behalf of CAUDIT1, CAUL2 and ACODE3, attracted interest from organisations across the nation and served as a catalyst for innovations from non-related fields to be combined to produce unique solutions.
The GCCEC joined forces with Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) to facilitate the conference’s complex connection requirements, developing an agreement to enable a 10 gigabit per second (Gbps) internet connection to permanently run between the GCCEC and the Griffith University Hospital Campus.
The GCCEC has long had a reputation for attracting clientele that require the most complex and demanding technological intricacies to showcase their events, making it one of the Centre’s drawcards, according to General Manager, Adrienne Readings.
“The partnership with AARNet enabled us to provide the client with an increased bandwidth ten times faster than the standard of most venues,” Ms Readings said.
“To bring that into perspective, the GCCEC was able to provide delegates with high capacity and high performance wireless connection speeds equivalent to what Telstra currently uses to service the whole of the Gold Coast region.”
The Centre’s six-man IT team played a vital role in streamlining the connection process, combining their expertise and experience to manage 80 percent of the client’s network and run 200 cable connections within 24 hours – almost twice the amount they would usually construct over a three day period.
“We are currently seeing a shift in client demand driven by associations and blue-chip organisations that operate hybrid conferences which require the latest infrastructure and technology to be able to stream live to hospitals, universities and the like to create interactive experiences in real time,” she said.
“THETA were no exception to this trend so it was imperative we provide them with the necessary elements to ensure the success of their four day event.”
The ground-breaking partnership follows on from the Centre’s recent investments in Information Technology infrastructure and Audio Visual capacities and forms part of the GCCEC’s ongoing commitment to remain at the forefront of innovation.
The dedicated network will be made available for future research, education and training events at the GCCEC.
1 CAUDIT – Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology
2 CAUL – Council of Australian University Librarians
3 AUDE – Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning