08 November 2002
	Dimension Data IT GIANT CONTRIBUTES TO EDUCATIONAL BACKBONE By Ethel Hazelhurst Company has invested more than R5m in Cida's IT capability

Dimension Data (Didata) SA CEO Allan Cawood describes Cida as "potentially one of the most innovative mass-scale higher education models in the world. We are involved in a lot of education initiatives but what excites us about Cida City Campus is that we are able to contribute in our core competency area - IT - which is the backbone of an educational institution. And we can drive the IT curriculum. "Didata became a Cida Platinum partner in 2001. And we are the founding corporate partner of the Cida school of IT and the new economy." He sees Cida as the ideal platform for developing middle managers "specifically because of the grounding the students get there in terms of well-rounded general business understanding and skills, as well as the opportunity to specialise in IT certifications". Linda Gerber, Didata's general project manager for Cida, says Didata's involvement focuses on two broad areas of need: "First, IT infrastructure to run the institution and second, IT training for both students and staff." Daniel Bronkhorst, Didata's IT project manager for Cida, says when Cida moved into 55 Fox Street, "the eight- storey building came with old token ring cabling. Didata's initial work included a complete removal and clean-up of the legacy cabling, and installation of new Ethernet cabling and infrastructure." "We refurbished the computer room, which included installing a raised floor, cabling, air conditioning and UPS power. More work was needed to set up the networking infrastructure and provide connectivity to all floors as well as the server infrastructure for Cida's administration and back-office systems." Together with its subsidiary, Internet Solutions, Didata has provided more than 20 high specification PCs and desktop services for management, facilitators and administration staff, including e-mail and Internet access. "Then we looked at it from a student perspective. We established a dedicated computer lab, created Internet access for all the PCs in the computer lab so every student can be connected to the Web," says Bronkhorst. "We also registered the cida.co.za domain and are building the first phase of the Cida website, which will be the world's window into Cida," says Bronkhorst. "Our aim is to ensure that each year of the degree, students get a solid grounding in the most relevant areas of information and technology and learn its importance in business," says Gerber. Next year, students will spend time at Didata, which will allow them to develop an understanding of the environment they will be working in. Didata takes seriously the need to produce well-rounded graduates and is also assisting with sport by making sure that potential cricket players get their chance. "We sponsor the Cida cricket team with their kit and league fees," says Gerber.