On Tuesday, 18 June 2019, the Center for Information Systems (CIS) at Sultan Qaboos University organized a ceremony to launch new systems and services under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, the Vice Chancellor of SQU. The new services offered include: data warehouse system, electronic payment system, procurement system, IELTS test results notification system, University Enrollment System, The system of raising the strategic plans of the parties, EDUROAM network, new e-mail system, academic jobs announcement system, and the system of nomination and selection of the distinguished employees.
The opening ceremony was followed by a video presentation on the services offered by the CIS. Dr. Nasser Alzeidi, Director of CIS, gave a speech in which he highlighted the Centre, its services and activities, and praised the employees who contribute to develop and maintain various services offered by the Center. Mazen Hamed Al Sulaimani, Deputy Director of the Department of Academic Affairs at the Deanship of Postgraduate Studies, delivered a speech in which he spoke about the launch of the system of electronic forms for postgraduate studies.
The data warehouse system in the first phase links the university to the statistical system at the Ministry of Higher Education, in cooperation with the Department of Statistics and Planning and the Ministry of Higher Education. The electronic payment system is launched in cooperation with the Department of Finance and the Information Technology Authority. It aims to facilitate the payment process to the university. The procurement system aims to streamline the purchase orders in a timely and detailed manner. The beneficiaries of the system are the Purchase Department and the companies working with the university.
The IELTS test results notification system introduced in cooperation with the Center for Preparatory Studies aims to facilitate and accelerate the receipt of IELTS test results and ease the back and forth discomfort of the labs and reduce the burden on the staff. The University Enrollment System launched in cooperation with the Deanship of Admission and Registration aims to facilitate the applications for admission to the university and follow up electronically. The system of raising the strategic plans of the parties is introduced in conjunction with the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Community Service.
The Information Systems Center also launched the EDUROAM application. It is an international roaming service for users in research, higher education and additional education. This service provides researchers, teachers, students and staff with easy and secure access to the network when visiting an institution other than the university, using the same credentials as when accessing the network within the university. The academic job announcement system features a unified template for the announcement of jobs in the university, a unified window for announcements about university jobs, and the ease of searching jobs in the university.
At the end of the ceremony, a theatrical sketch was presented to discuss the projects under implementation: the basic firewall system, the high performance computing system, and the student registration system. The patron of the ceremony also honored employees of the CIS who contributed to successful implementation of the new services.