Building a Smarter Campus: Deakin University

Although Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia is relatively new in terms of universities (it was founded less than 50 years ago) they have made significant achievement in this time in reaching the the top 3% of rankings in higher education institutions worldwide.

Critical to the university’s continued success is its commitment to driving major digital transformation through their smart campus and fully interconnected digital learning hub. Recently, BBC Future ran a feature on Deakin University and their innovative use of Cisco technology to enable students to learn virtually, on any device, anywhere, at any time.

Deakin University’s digital vision? To create a comprehensive digital layer sitting atop their existing physical environment.

According to William Confalonieri, Chief Digital Officer and Vice President of Deakin University, the university’s motivation for digitization is to stay ahead of competitors and provide students with a better standard of learning. He said, “If we don’t move with the times, we run the risk of being unprepared for the potential disruption by other players.”

Utilizing the Cisco digital network infrastructure, students and faculty can easily connect to the WiFi, allowing for asynchronous learning across campus and beyond. And, using Cisco Mobile Experience and data analytics, Deakin University can better track campus traffic, allowing for more efficient and innovative student services, for both learning and practical resource administration.

One of the extremely innovative ways that Deakin University is utilizing Cisco technology is through their take on a library of the 21st century. Using Cisco CMX and analytics platform, Deakin allows students via mobile apps and digital signage to see which parts of the library are most crowded, request help and check out books from any device.

Watch this video to get a glimpse of Deakin’s digital campus, and read more about their use of Cisco technology in this case study.