The University of Djibouti has implemented a sophisticated software system to help it achieve its ambition to deliver tertiary education to students in countries on the horn of Africa. Sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education, the University of Djibouti e-campus was unveiled at a ceremony attended by the Djiboutian President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and students from the university.

Dr Nabil Mohamed Ahmed, Minister of Higher Education and Research, says that the Peoplesoft system will entrench global best practices in delivering and managing higher education. “This is the perfect platform upon which to build our continuing investment in the youth of this region, for whom world-class education is essential.” He says that modern technology is a key requirement to advance education in Djibouti and beyond.

“The significance of this implementation lies in the vision of the Djibouti’s President, who recognized that modern technology today is a vehicle for progress,” says Alfonso di Ianni, Oracle senior vice-president, East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. “This implementation has proved that information technology is a very powerful transformational tool for business and government.”

The long-term goal of the university is to provide degree and post-graduate courses to students in surrounding countries, a service the university believes will be supported by the system.

Implementation was conducted jointly by Mahindra Satyam and Mega Bureautique, a Djibouti-based partner which trained up a team of software engineers to provide support. Oracle provided both servers and storage (Oracle Sun X3-2), and software (Peoplesoft Campus, Oracle Database, Oracle Weblogic and Oracle Webcenter).

Principal of Djibouti University, Dr Djama Mohamed Hassan, says that the software platform constitutes a complete university system delivering teaching, research and administrative management in line with international modern practices.

“The university would not have had the skills to implement these processes manually, but the Peoplesoft system already has best practices built into the workflows.”

“Students, academic staff and administration can have a fluid, seamless engagement whether virtual or physical, thus allowing them to address student and academic needs dynamically,” he says.

The University of Djibouti today offers its more than 5 000 students 29 distinct educational channels comprising four faculties: Faculty of Letters, Languages and Social Sciences; Faculty of Law, Economics and Management; Faculty of Sciences, and the Institute of Technology.