The COVID 19 pandemic disrupted society in profound ways and higher education was one of the hardest hit sectors. Universities sent students home, pivoted to online classes, which, in turn, ushered in a period of financial uncertainty.
For many colleges and universities, these uncertain times provided the catalyst to accelerate their digital transformation and embrace innovative ways to serve students, staff, faculty, and researchers. What has enabled colleges and universities to drive these digital transformation initiatives has been the growing adoption of hybrid cloud technologies.
But for those institutions that lacked the financial resources to make this important shift, the American Rescue Plan includes just short of $40 billion to help U.S. colleges and universities recover from the pandemic. This funding will certainly help universities on their journey to the cloud and help them deploy innovative technologies to reinvent higher education.
These were the key themes of part five of our American Rescue Plan Act* video podcast series, hosted on Government Technology Insider, where Mary Olson, Strategic Program Lead, Higher Education and Research at Oracle, discusses this topic further.
“When the pandemic hit, it was clear that higher education was dealing with many unknowns,” said Olson. “Now with the American Relief Act, there are opportunities to enhance digital transformation where the cloud gives you the ability to do things you never could before – like enhancing student engagement. In terms of cyber risks, it is top of mind for many educational institutions. The most important aspect of security is to carefully select a cloud platform that is designed from the ground up to be secure, and has Zero Trust built into it.”
Listen to the full video podcast below:
*This video series was recorded in the spring before the formalization and passing of the American Rescue Plan Act. As such our subject matter experts refer to the American Relief Plan in the video.
Missed the beginning? Click here to listen to Part One of the “American Rescue Plan” Video Podcast Series.
