AICTE Rolls Out Microsoft Live@edu to 7 Million Students

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is rolling out Microsoft's hosted communication and collaboration service, Microsoft Live@edu, over the next three months to roughly 7.5 million students and faculty at more than 10,000 institutions throughout India. The new contract is one Microsoft's largest cloud deployments to date.

Live@edu will provide AICTE member institutions with hosted e-mail, Microsoft Office Web Apps, instant messaging, and storage. AICTE plans to expand deployment of Microsoft's cloud services to include Microsoft Exchange Online email and calendar, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online, and Microsoft Office Professional when Microsoft Office 365 for education becomes available later this year.

"Microsoft's cloud platform will make for a truly progressive ecosystem and contribute to the country's technical education by providing a better communication and collaboration platform for institutes and students," said Dr. S. S. Mantha, chairman of AICTE in a prepared statement released last week by Microsoft.

AICTE is the governing body for technical education in India and is a member of India's Ministry of Human Resource Development.

AICTE evaluated a number of vendors, including IBM and Google, before awarding the contract to Microsoft. Deployment has begun and is expected to be finished by summer 2012.

About the Author

Kanoe Namahoe is online editor for 1105 Media's Education Group. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • conceptual graph of rising AI adoption

    Report: AI Adoption Rising, but Trust Gap Limits Impact

    A recent global study found that while the adoption of artificial intelligence continues to expand rapidly across industries, a misalignment between perceived trust in AI systems and their actual trustworthiness is limiting business returns.

  • shield with an AI microchip emblem hovering above stacks of gold coins

    AI Security Spend Surges While Traditional Security Budgets Shrink

    A new Thales report reveals that while enterprises are pouring resources into AI-specific protections, only 8% are encrypting the majority of their sensitive cloud data — leaving critical assets exposed even as AI-driven threats escalate and traditional security budgets shrink.

  • young man in a denim jacket scans his phone at a card reader outside a modern glass building

    Colleges Roll Out Mobile Credential Technology

    Allegion US has announced a partnership with Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and Denison College, in conjunction with Transact + CBORD, to install mobile credential technologies campuswide. Implementing Mobile Student ID into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet will allow students access to campus facilities, amenities, and residence halls using just their phones.

  • digital book with circuit patterns

    Turnitin and ACUE Partner on AI Training for Educators

    Turnitin is teaming up with the Association of College and University Educators to create a series of courses on AI and academic integrity designed to help faculty navigate the responsible use of AI in learning and assessment.