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Infrastructure Unlocks Education

Mustaqbal University, a well-regarded private university in Saudi Arabia, is committed to setting the highest standards in higher education, providing the very best resources in the digital age, to better cater to its most important asset: its students. As such, the university has long prioritized infrastructure as key to the quality of education it can provide.

This has never been truer than during the pandemic. With the university putting the safety of students and teachers alike at the forefront of its endeavors, the executive team planned to adopt an upgraded communications platform to smooth the flow of knowledge and experience, overcoming the considerable barriers unprecedented healthcare worries placed in the way.

Bridging Communication Gaps

Like every other educational institution around the world, the pandemic and its unique challenges were thrust upon Mustaqbal University unexpectedly, which had to rapidly work out how to prevent disruption to education while adhering to strict preventive measures in order to safeguard students and staff.

The aim was to use its existing e-learning platform to keep lines of communication with its students open, prioritizing ease-of-use and creating genuine excitement in the classroom. And for this to happen, hybrid classrooms would be key. Indeed, Mustaqbal University has long developed partnerships with famous universities in and outside Saudi Arabia. Here, legacy collaboration technology has helped the university support research into new technologies, such as 3D printing, as well as foster communication between teachers and students around the world.

A Smart Classroom Solution Digitally Transforms the University

Building on this legacy infrastructure and in order to meet its upgraded needs, Mustaqbal partnered with Huawei, choosing Huawei's Smart Classroom Solution — running on the collaboration tool HUAWEI IdeaHub and a bidirectional collaboration platform — to transform traditional classrooms with hybrid and digital upgrades.

The Smart Classroom Solution supports the sharing of bidirectional audio, 4K images, and video, as well as coursework presentation and annotation, across multiple classrooms in real time. With IdeaHub as the interface, latency is minimal and projecting from computers and other devices is easy: reverse control technology allows presentations to be fully controlled through IdeaHub's screen. And, no matter where they are, students and teachers can easily join classes remotely through software clients.

IdeaHub Is a Bridge

The Smart Classroom Solution has other uses, too. It can connect newly qualified teachers with more experienced colleagues, for example, helping the former skill up fast. IdeaHub's interactive whiteboard allows simultaneous annotation, with any notes made easily shared over email or by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code.

"Through our partnership with Huawei we have built a cross university communication system, driving hybrid and multi-classroom teaching to a higher level," said Dr. Mansour Ibrahim Alsaghier, Vice Rector for Educational Affairs at Mustaqbal University. "We look forward to promoting the partnership with Huawei, in order to explore more technologies and the latest solutions in the field of education."

"With nearly 30 years of experience and innovations, Huawei deploys state-of-the-art Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to deliver a next generation Smart Classroom Solution, calling on the latest audio and video innovations," commented Feras Alsarraj, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Huawei Enterprise in Saudi Arabia. "Huawei Smart Education Solutions transcend physical boundaries, break time limits, and support onsite and online hybrid teaching and learning. Huawei is proud that Mustaqbal University is the first university in Saudi Arabia, indeed the wider Middle East, to fully adopt the End to End (E2E) Smart Classroom Solution."

Seizing Opportunities

Every digital journey is an intricate, delicate one. But Mustaqbal University has already taken significant steps toward implementing a digital education solution and is committed to being a clear leader, establishing strong digital goals and transforming itself into an agile institution that's fit to serve generations of new talent to come.