ETPL links Jaffna University

Enterprise Technology (Pvt) Ltd (ETPL) completed the implementation of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure project comprising a campus-wide structured cabling system with both optical fibre and Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cables at the University of Jaffna.

The multimillion-rupee project was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), managed by a monitoring committee comprising academics and administrative staff from the University of Jaffna, University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), University of Peradeniya and University of Ruhuna.

ETPL provided the design for the structured cabling infrastructure and certified engineers to implement the project which included providing secure connectivity to over 2500 work stations with over 5000m of external fibre and over 1300m of internal fibre interconnecting the entire University.

The project was carried out according to international telecommunication industry standards.

The network design incorporates features to scale with provision for expansion.

"We are confident that the state-of-the-art network will provide opportunities to enhance collaboration and cooperation among academics in conducting research activities leading to long-term growth and development of the country, improving the quality of education," said Head, Department Computer Science, University of Jaffna and coordinator of the project Dr. E.Y.A Charles.

The University offers degrees in several disciplines covering computer science, arts, law, medicine, science, agriculture and business studies for over three-thousand internal, over 800 external, 500 post graduate and over 350 students at the Vavuniya campus.

The network and infrastructure was not available hitherto to connect workstations or to provide connectivity to the Internet, which limited the opportunities for collaboration, learning and widespread research activities at the University.

The University houses six faculties with fifty-seven academic departments, several service/academic/support units and centers and a Campus at Vavuniya, about 130 Km from Jaffna.

Expansion is planned with the addition of a few more faculties, departments and centres which will enhance its role and commitments to the region around it.