Language:
SEARCH
  • Recent Posts

  • Categories

  • Archives

Green IT

New building, new times

Friday, September 4th, 2015

it-gebouSince the 80s the Information Technology department has been located in a section of the Engineering faculty, just off Banhoekweg. Some of us have grown old with the building and became part of the furniture over time.

We are happy, ecstatic and enthusiastic to announce that this will change over the next two months. Yes, we are uprooting all our staff and in a mission of epic proportions relocating to a brand-new building where we will be rubbing shoulders with our new neighbours, Facilities Management. You can read more about our new, green home here and also in September’s issue of Kampusnuus.

As exciting as this new development is, there are also some logistic wrinkles that need ironing. Once they are ironed out, however, we’ll be providing a more convenient, streamlined service to everyone on campus.

Since we will now be even further away from central campus, the IT HUB, our current student centre, will become an additional service point. No longer do you have to lug that massive PC box across campus to the IT building and sprain an elbow doing so. You can now get assistance for your personal devices, as well as asset number PC (SU equipment) at the IT HUB. It works as follows:

SU equipment (with asset numbers and warranties)

Staff are welcome to drop their equipment off at the IT HUB if it suits them better. Just keep in mind this might cause a delay in service of at least a day. These include laptops and desktop PCs where a warranty is concerned.

All equipment will still be serviced at the main IT building, but minor adjustments, for example registering a device on the network, passwords, etc. can be done at the IT HUB.

Personal devices (no asset number or warranty)

Staff’s personal devices will be handled at the IT HUB or IT Workshop at a nominal fee. For a fee, staff can register 5 personal devices (e.g. smart phones, tablets and laptops) on the network. These devices will receive limited support at the IT HUB.

kaartWe will still be at your disposal through all the other channels and you can contact our service desk here:

Tel:  021-808 4367
Skype: ITStellenUni
E-mail: helpinfo@sun.ac.za (for general enquiries) or help@sun.ac.za (to log an error)
Twitter: @itstellenuni

Google Maps

Full instructions on how to log an error is available here. Please supply the correct information otherwise the call will not register on the system.

All our services are listed on our Service Catalogue and if you are brave enough, you can consult our Self-help wiki.

New IT building – greenest on campus

Friday, May 15th, 2015

In September the Information Technology (IT) division will enter a new era. Not only will we be moving to a new building, our new home will also be the first truly “green” building on campus.

A wide range of sustainability characteristics have been incorporated in the new building’s design and can be considered according to the Green Building Council of South Africa’s Green Star Office rating tool categories.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy: Solar photovoltaic energy generation on the roof; optimal northern orientation and window sizing; shading elements; vertical garden on the northern aspect to minimise heating and cooling; usage of river water for cooling; low energy lighting and smart lighting.

Indoor environment quality (IEQ): Natural lighting; ventilation; minimisation of noise.

Transport: Bicycle store and facilities for cyclists; optimal parking spaces.

Innovation: The vertical garden; the use of river and rainwater for air-conditioning plant cooling.

The building should not be seen as merely a space hosting a department, but also an integral part of the IT Division’s work system – the people, processes they execute and the spaces and facilities of the building all form an integrated whole.

The building can contribute to the goal of creating a new working culture, establishing new work methods and, above all, encouraging collaboration and communication.

Developing new ways of working and a different work culture is now more important than ever as we find ourselves in the Information Age. As the focus shifts to the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) within Stellenbosch University’s strategy, the IT Division has to be able to meet higher expectations. The new building can be viewed as a tool, amongst others, to help meet these expectations.

The nature of knowledge work in the Information Age, in which the IT Division engages, is increasingly team-oriented, social, requiring intensive communication, interactions, knowledge sharing, continuous learning and consultation. The ability to collaborate, breaking out of siloed thinking, effective networking and flexibility become valued capabilities.

The new building features large “open plan” working areas with abundant natural lighting and tracts of glass – much like the campus facilities of admired technology companies such as Google and Apple. Quality, utility and flexibility of furnishings and fittings are also vital as teamwork requires flexible furnishings that can be altered easily and quickly to accommodate new work areas.

Adequate, well-resourced meeting spaces and breakaway areas are required in order to achieve a balance between shared and private workspace in innovative ways. Digital communications facilities in these spaces must make remote working and virtual meetings easy and effective.

Finally, the work environment must be healthy, encourage creativity and collaboration and must be a place where people want to work and spend time.  A working environment that is welcoming, open and does not reinforce hierarchies and promotes flexibility and communication will contribute to the transition to a next-generation IT Division.

[ARTICLE: RALPH PINA]

New IT building: What is a place of work?

Thursday, December 11th, 2014

Our fairly intensive participation in the design process for the new IT building got me thinking about what a place of work is and why a knowledge New IT building NW perspectiveorganisation, like an IT division, would have one. The new building is essentially an office building: it will not house technical infrastructure such as the data centre, but will be the place of work for the division’s engineers, system administrators, technicians, architects, analysts, software developers, managers, etc.

Besides the admittedly exciting “green” design features, such as the vertical garden, optimal orientation, solar PV panels, rainwater harvesting, bicycle store, and various other efficiency elements that will make it far more energy-efficient  and sustainable than other buildings of its type, the other intriguing possibility that it presents is the opportunity to influence change in the culture of the IT division. The catalyst for this “change of culture” could be the university’s new norms that require that all new office buildings be “open plan”. For an organisation that has become accustomed to being housed for the past 25 years in what can only be described as a “rabbit warren” of cellular offices leading off dark, desolate corridors, this is a radical departure. There seems to be much trepidation and negativity about our “open plan” future, some of which at least is simply related to humans’ default discomfort with change of any sort 1. (more…)

E-waste programme still going strong

Friday, May 24th, 2013

The IT Division’s e-waste programme continues to quietly do the right thing behind the scenes.

During the period July 2012 to April 2013, Cape e-Waste Recyclers, our e-waste contractors, removed the following items from the on-campus e-waste depot for responsible disposal and recycling:

  • 325 Computers
  • 162 Printers and Scanners
  • 269 Monitors
  • 3 boxes of general e-waste.

Remember, if you have any e-waste lying around at home or in your office, contact us and we’ll help you to get rid of it without harming the environment.

The procedures by which IT assets should be decommissioned and placed into the e-waste stream are detailed on the IT Help wiki: e-Waste Procedures.

 

Cybermeetings the way of the future?

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Chicken or beef? Just imagine not exposing yourself to dodgy airplane meals and lost luggage anymore? Nowadays there’s really little need to fly thousands of kilometeres for an one hour meeting. More and more businesses are starting to make use of virtual meetings to save money and to lighten their carbon footprint.

Ok, let’s start from the beginning. So what does the term carbon footprint actually mean?

Every human being has their own carbon footprint, whether you are an individual, part of a large corporation or a manufacturer of goods. Your daily activities and everything you do has an impact on the environment. Your carbon footprint is a measure of this impact and can be calculated based on your food, travel, purchases and how you deal with waste. (If you want to find out what yours is, use the Carbon Footprint Calculator)

There are many ways of reducing your carbon footprint and making sure you tread lightly every day. Conferences and meetings are just two of these.

Ask yourself whether it’s really necessary to attend the meeting or conference? According to Dave Rochlin of ClimatePath most events can generate more than a ton of CO2 per attendee. This includes air travel (about 90% of the carbon footprint), paper usage, conference material and catering. According to research done by ClimatePath a conference’s carbon footprint can be reduced by 90 percent by hosting the meeting virtually. One company, Manpower, avoided 400,000 pounds of CO2 emissions by holding its annual Global Leadership Team meeting virtually, which reduced air travel by one million miles!

Modern technologies such as video conferencing can help lower the carbon footprint of meetings. An initial investment in tele- and video-conferencing facilities will reduce the need for flights saving money, time and carbon emissions. But the installation of possibly expensive technology isn’t a necessity. A virtual meeting can easily be conducted via Skype within an hour – the same meeting in a different location would’ve been more costly and time-consuming as well.

If it’s not possible to conduct a meeting via video conferencing, some measures can still be taken to lessen the impact on the environment. Some handy hints on conferencing can be found on The National Conference Centre’s blog so next time you attend a conference, make sure you tread lightly.

 

© 2013-2025 Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author(s) and content contributor(s). The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Stellenbosch University.