Google Nigeria has announced the launch of an app that will increase usage of the Internet and Google Apps in sub-Saharan African universities
Google Apps Supporting Programs (GASP) was especially designed for the oldest university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan.
The app was launched at an event attended by principal officers and the management team of the university and the vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Isaac Adewole.
The programme will provide the Google Apps for Education suite and work to strengthen the existing information and communication services of participating universities through infrastructure grants, technical consulting and training.
Google programme manager for sub-Saharan Africa, Ego Obi, said, “We are excited and honoured to partner the university to launch email powered app by Google, which is one of the many apps in the Google Apps for Education suite. We hope that the development will foster better communication and collaboration within the university community enabling teaching, learning and research.”
With the launch, all students from the university will have access to a lifetime email address stu.ui.edu.ng and up to 25Gb of storage space.
Through the integration of Google’s tools into university processes, GASP will aim to increase productivity and offer collaboration solutions with the academic world.
According to Adewole, deploying Google Apps meant that students had access to a platform that offered the best integration and collaborative opportunities.
He said, “Through the deployment, all students will have access to their emails from every part of the campus.”
Obi added, “We want to get more and more Nigerian users online by improving access to the Internet and helping universities like University of Ibadan to take advantage of the Internet. We look forward to partnering more local universities, and encourage any interested parties to visit our website.”
