Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 22 | Page 40

COUNTRY FOCUS: UAE Ashith Piriyattiath, Group Head of IT at Al Masah Capital Management “We have managed to make learning more interactive, intuitive and fun than ever before. It is a fine example of innovative technology being leveraged to revolutionise education.” 40 INTELLIGENTCIO Following the successful rollout at Sabari Indian School, Al Masah Capital Management has already implemented Aruba’s wireless infrastructure in Horizon International School Dubai and Horizon English School Dubai. “At this initial stage, we are establishing a world-class Wi-Fi infrastructure, fitting of the high-calibre of our institutions. As with Sabari Indian School, this will then act as a platform to support on-going innovation,” said Piriyattiath. One of the major IT initiatives for the group is the establishment of a cloud-based centralised data centre. This consolidation of IT will help reduce manpower requirements at individual schools and will simplify the group’s IT infrastructure. The ability to centrally manage and control the Aruba wireless network makes such consolidation possible. From a single pane of glass, the group’s network team can monitor and control APs at each institution, irrespective of their actual physical location. Piriyattiath and his team are also keen to explore Aruba Beacons. He said: “We see great potential for this technology such as its incorporation within student ID cards. This would enable tracking of students on school premises to make sure they are safe and attending classes. We would also like to extend Beacon-based tracking capabilities to our transport buses so parents can be informed of the whereabouts of their children as they commute to and from school.” Discussions are also on-going with Aruba to explore how Beacons could be used to develop an eWallet system that is integrated with the ID cards so that students can make trackable cashless transactions at facilities such as school canteens. Piriyattiath concluded: “Thanks to Aruba, Sabari Indian School www.intelligentcio.com