Building Digital Technical Capacity at Nigerian Universities:
Laying the Foundation for Greater Digital Participation and Collaboration

Institutional Partnerships Program
PROGRESS REPORT
November 31, 2001

Section I: Qualitative Reporting

1. Project Summary:

The partnership between the University of Iowa and the Nigerian National Universities Commission (NUC) seeks to develop the capacity of technicians and computer support personnel to develop, maintain, and promote the use of computers and networks at Nigerian universities. It also seeks, in partnership with Kirkwood Community College, to create links between the University of Iowa and multiple Nigerian universities via the Nigerian National Universities Commission (NUC).

Major accomplishments in the reporting period.

• Focusing on vendor-neutral, industry-standard certification for our trainees, we secured generous discount on LearnKey's A+ software -- an 8-CD collection of high quality multimedia training -- for each of the 14 participating universities.  The A+ training prepares one to be a computer technician and covers computer construction, repair, software installation, and configuring a computer on a local area network.  LearnKey's product is one of the highest-ranked computer-based training (CBT) modules available.
   
• LearnKey also donated the follow-on Network+ CBT package.  This 4-CD set provides intensive training for network designers and administrators.  Value of the donation: $42,000
   
• Created the "TechCD":  a single CD with over 15,000 documents on technical support issues.  WiderNet Project staff contacted hundreds of authors and publishers to secure permission for the use of documents. These CDs, which are provided to every trainee, represent an extensive library and resource database on topics related to project training.  (See the on-line version.)
   
• We secured a donation of 40 copies of Microsoft NT Server for each university involved with the technician training.  Value of the donation: $48,000
   
• We secured a donation of  28 copies of RedHat Linux for each university involved with the technician training (plus a promise for more copies for next year's trainees.) Value of the donation: $15,000
   
• Provided three-day on-site training for 40+ university technicians at NUC's headquarters in Abuja.  Trainees were introduced to the CBT software, heard a dozen lectures on computer and network technology, and got to try their hands at assembling PCs from components as well as making network cables and setting up local area networks.  (See the report...)  
   
• Provided five days of consulting and training at the university of Ibadan.  Met with administrators and computer committee to discuss campus ICT strategy and plans.  Reviewed and discussed their grant application with the MacArthur Foundation.  Visited SKANNET, the local internet service provider (ISP) that supplies the University of Ibadan with its Internet connectivity.  Toured campus.  Met with 20 high-ranked administrators to present “Demystifying Databases” and discuss off-the-shelf enterprise-scale management software.  Made presentation to 23 database programmers from various departments around campus on developing databases and designing databases for the Web.  Met with ten technical trainees to introduced the CBT software, demonstrated it use, and then answered questions their about all matters of ICT.  Gave a presentation entitled “African University Digitization” and discussed issues of ICT in higher education with vice chancellor and university council.
   
• Spent two days assisting NUC staff in reviewing applicants for several positions for a World Bank-sponsored Internet and networks project.
   
• Conducted three days of training with 12 NUC staff.  Covered "Digitizing Materials for the World Wide Web," "Digital Libraries", “Demystifying Databases”,  "Database Design with Microsoft Access," and "Designing Databases for the World Wide Web." 
   
• Met individually with representatives from the University of Jos, Ahmadu Bello University (Zaria), and Bayero University, Kano to discuss their ICT plans and hear about their progress.
   
• Set up temporary certification system at the NUC for technical trainees using third-party testing software.  Still working with Prometric to establish the WiderNet Project as a bona fide certification center.
   
• Set up and deployed TechTraining email list, a list service for the 40 technicians in the training program to exchange ideas, ask questions, and collaborate.
   
• Microsoft donated software for the WiderNet Project office to set up demonstration servers and host WiderNet Project applications and Web sites.  The suite includes: Microsoft Server 2000, Exchange 2000, and SQL 2000.   Value of the donation: $23,000
   

• Project staff members have done considerable technical consulting with Nigerian partners. From working with several Nigerian universities to evaluate the suitability of the Cisco Academy, to evaluating New Deal software, to assisting in establishing Nigeria's top level domain with Network Startup Resource Center, to helping technicians monitor and mange their limited Internet connectivity.
   

• Entirely on the side, we have collected donations of over 100 computers (Pentium or better) for shipment to our partner universities in Nigeria.  Our partners have agreed to pay for the shipping costs ($5,000) once we have collected the 300 computers that will fill a cargo container.
   

• Finally, we have, through a $480,000 MacArthur Foundation grant, expanded the WiderNet Project to include other universities and extend the range of services we can provide to Nigerian universities.
   

2. Project Status.

While it has taken some time for this project to build up a good head of steam, we are very happy with the results of the last six months.  Delays have become common -- for example we were still not sure the training in Abuja would hold in November until a week before the scheduled start date -- but not because of a lack of effort.  Our partners at the NUC did an admirable job of bringing the participants together and hosting the main training event in Abuja. 

The proof of the quality of the training comes in two parts: when participants were asked to rank various aspects of the training on a scale from 1-to-10, they consistently awarded 9s and 10s.  (See the evaluations.)   The second part comes in the next few months as the trainees return to Abuja to take the certification exam.  Since each university has a copy of the CBT software, we've encouraged them to train as many technicians as they wish.  We've committed to certifying as many people as they send.

Our on-the-ground consulting efforts delivered big payoffs in November and our Ibadan partners expressed their great appreciation for the resources provided through this USAID project. 

3. Project Planned Activities for next six months.

Over the next six months we will be coaching the technician trainees via email and the NUC will be certifying them whenever they are ready to be tested. 

We hope to return to Nigeria for a second round of training and consulting in May or June.   Meanwhile, the WiderNet Project staff continue to collect training materials and Web sites for the trainees, as well as provide occasional consulting to individual universities.

4. Significant goals or objectives amendments since the original project proposal.

Since the terrorist attack of September 11th, we saw every potential trainer who had previously expressed interest in traveling to Nigeria warily decline the opportunity.  We're still looking for trainers to accompany us on our next trip, but we're having to look further afield.  We might wind up employing more trainers to do email coaching and stateside testing and troubleshooting in the new WiderNet lab.

5. According to your records, how much money has the partnership drawn down on ALO funds so far? 
$ 21,666.13

Section II: Quantitative Reporting for USAID Indicators

Last updated Friday, March 14, 2003 by Cliff Missen