Quantifying the ICT needs of academic institutes using the service category-stakeholder matrix approach

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is byplaying an ever-increasing role in the services provided by academic institutions of today. With the rapid advent in technology and the breadth of tools made available, academic institutions are finding it more challenging to quantify their needs and optimize their ICT investments. Moreover, the pressing demands that academic institutions should meet international accreditation criteria, dictate that wise deployment of ICT should be given adequate consideration. In this paper, we review recent efforts carried out by the ICTP S&Q Committee - an offspring of the ICTP project of the HEEP initiative in Egypt in order to quantify the ICT needs of academic institutions. A systematic approach for determining such needs is proposed, which invokes the concept of the Service Category-Stakeholder MatrixA number of illustrative examples are provided which serve to explain this approach. It should be remembered, however, that actual implementation of the proposed approach would vary from case to case dependin g on the vision, mission and goals of each academic institution, as well as the current IT status of the institution. © 2008 IEEE.