Cloud Supports AI and Innovation: Modern Higher Education for All Thanks to the Cloud!
Well, well, well! Isn’t it delightful when technology meets education? Dr. Sven Schütt, the CEO of IU International University, boldly claims the cloud is not merely a fluffy thing up in the sky—it’s the very backbone of their educational initiative! And when I say “backbone,” I mean a strong, reliable one. We’re not talking about the vertebrae of a spineless chicken here!
A Cloudy Day Makes for a Bright Educational Future
The IU International University is ticking all the boxes of modern education. Who needs brick-and-mortar classrooms when you can run 90% of your processes in the cloud? That’s like saying, “Why bother driving a car when you can teleport?” Apparently, 130,000 students from around the globe are happily signing up for degrees ranging from Bachelor to MBA. Now that’s what I call a global classroom! Or do we call it a cloud-classroom? No? Just me?
“The cloud is an enabler of democratization,” says Schütt. “It should contribute positively to the work of the IU.”
Closing the Skills Gap: One Cloud at a Time
IU isn’t just all about theory; they’re practically throwing students into the tech deep end with classes on Artificial Intelligence in Business and Machine Learning. Now, they’re tackling the “IT skills gap” faster than a cheetah on roller skates with their partnership with Amazon Web Services through the AWS Tech Alliance. Yes, that’s the same Amazon that keeps sending me packages I didn’t order! If only there were an AWS for my shopping habits!
Security: Not Just for the Avengers
And let’s not glaze over the topic of security. Ransomware attacks have been as popular as avocado toast at brunch, and IU is set on ensuring their students’ data remains as safe as a secret kept by a teenager. Kevin Fischer, Head of DevOps, emphasizes the need for robust security measures while also letting their tech dreams soar. Sounds fabulous! It’s like saying you can have your cake and eat it too, just as long as you don’t have any weird food allergies.
Saving the Planet, One Gigabyte at a Time
Now, for anyone worrying about the environment while they binge-watch their online classes, fear not! The IU claims its online courses can reduce climate-damaging gas emissions up to seven times compared to traditional face-to-face courses. It’s certified CO2 neutral by TÜV Süd for three years running. Take that, carbon footprint! Say goodbye to that guilty feeling when you ask, “Do I really need to print out this 50-page essay?”
“By leveraging the power of the cloud, we can reduce our carbon footprint, optimize the use of our resources and move towards a more sustainable future,” Fischer passionately states.
AI: The Super Sidekick of Education
AI is not just a buzzword; it’s actively working behind the scenes at IU. Enter “Syntea,” the educational AI. They say it acts as a ‘learning companion’. Sadly, it won’t bring you coffee, but it might shorten your study time by a whopping 27%! I’d invest in that! Who knew that having a glowing screen could get you faster results than running in circles around the library?
Final Thoughts
So there you have it! IU International University makes education feel like a superhero movie where technology saves the day (and your study burden). With their blend of cloud computing, personalized learning, and a keen focus on sustainability, they’re shaping the future of higher education. Now, if only they could make a cloud solution for my daily life struggles—like knowing what’s for dinner! Until then, hats off to IU!
Cloud supports AI and innovation Modern higher education – education for all thanks to the cloud
Providers on the topic
The use of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) at the IU International University contributes to a democratic and personalized education system, reported its CEO Dr. Sven Schütt. The IU itself is committed to data security and sustainability.
The IU in Erfurt offers courses on current topics such as AI in Business or Applied Artificial Intelligence; the degrees range from Bachelor to Master to MBA.
(Image: Matzer / IU)
“We at IU want to personalize and democratize education,” reports Sven Schütt. “We are a technology company. Around 90 percent of all processes run in the cloud.” The cloud is also the only scalable infrastructure that can support the 130,000 students worldwide. “In addition, there are numerous lecturers and around 300 employees in IT and DevOps in cloud computing,” says Schütt. The private, state-recognized educational institution headquartered in Erfurt offers various study models such as flexible distance learning, a practice-integrated dual study program or an individual myStudium, which combines online self-study and campus life. The IU teaches its students key competencies relevant to the future in more than 250 study programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and MBA levels.
Dr. Sven Schütt is CEO of the IU International University.
(Image: IU)
“For us, cloud computing is an enabler of democratization and should contribute positively to the work of the IU. Cloud learning offerings can also help close the skills gap. That’s why the IU has been part of the ‘ since December 2023AWS Tech Alliance‘.“
The Tech Alliance is a global initiative by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring together technology employers and higher education. The aim is to work together to close the IT skills gap and prepare learners for demanding technical careers. Participants also include providers of dual study programs, such as Siemens. It is therefore not surprising that politics is also involved: the patron of the Tech Alliance in Germany is the Bavarian State Minister for Digital, Dr. Fabian Mehring. “We are a founding partner of the Tech Alliance so that our students can acquire cloud skills and certificates that are directly relevant to industry and the job market,” continued Schütt. The aim is to constantly provide personalized educational content of the highest quality in a secure and sustainable manner. Since the students are spread around the world, these three requirements are of the highest priority.
In this context, AWS plays a central role: “AWS brings us to the forefront of AI and IT,” reports Kevin Fischer, Head of DevOps, IU Internationale Hochschule. In 2020, IU began migrating to AWS infrastructure because much of its software ran with another service provider. However, in order to scale sustainably and securely, IU needed a more powerful foundation and in July 2020 created a DevOps team that created a new architecture based on AWS. The detailed implementation plan focused primarily on protecting data, as ransomware attacks cost an average of 1.5 million euros. “Research universities are very often the targets of such attacks,” says Fischer. “We work closely with AWS to implement easy-to-manage security solutions.”
“Speed, flexibility, scalability, security, compliance, reliability are the biggest advantages of our migration to AWS,” summarizes Fischer. For example, to achieve flexibility, his DevOps team also implemented two services for microservices architectures: Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) and Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service), just two of the 38 AWS services used. “They are the heart of our infrastructure because everything else runs on them. With these two services we can also implement infrastructure as code,” says Fischer. “On our old system, students had to wait eight to nine days for a new server to start up, but now we just click a button and can start working within minutes.”
Infrastructure as Code has also led to the data security of students and the university being strengthened. CTO of the IU, Sebastian Glöckner, explains: “With the help of AWS security tools, we can ensure that there are no misconfigurations when implementing the cloud. We wanted to freely experiment with new ideas and features without being hindered by hardware limitations. Additionally, we want to ensure that everything we create is 100% secure.”
With just eight DevOps employees managing AWS services, IU manages to provide 130,000 students with “highly personalized learning content in a high-quality, user-oriented and scalable digital learning environment,” says Glöckner. “And by using AWS services, we only pay for what we actually use,” adds Kevin Fischer. “The system can be operated economically and strengthens our workforce of 300 employees to work more efficiently.”
As of October 30, 2020
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Certified sustainability
The IU is a private, state-recognized university with an international student body. The majority of students at IU complete their studies via online distance learning, while face-to-face courses are offered at 38 locations in Germany. By focusing heavily on online studies, the IU estimates that it can reduce climate-damaging gas emissions seven times compared to face-to-face courses. In fact, IU has been certified as CO2 neutral by TÜV Süd for three consecutive years. The university also wants to implement environmentally conscious practices at all levels of its operations, rather than just teaching sustainability.
“Adopting the cloud model is more than just an upgrade to our technology, but is directly linked to our sustainability strategy,” explains Kevin Fischer. “By leveraging the power of the cloud, we can reduce our carbon footprint, optimize the use of our resources and move towards a more sustainable future where efficiency and ecology go hand in hand.” IU hosts its systems in the AWS Region “Europe (Frankfurt)”, which uses 100 percent renewable energy. “In this way, we can not only achieve low latency times, but also minimize our emissions.”
Use of artificial intelligence
“We use artificial intelligence to improve the learning process because it suggests personalized learning plans,” reports Sven Schütt. “The AI Syntea used at IU acts as a ‘learning companion’. According to statistics, students can shorten their study time by an average of 27 percent by using Syntea.” Students can use Syntea to learn how to use business AI, machine learning and prompt engineering. “We have around 60 developers in the area of generative AI. So people are already collaborating with AI.”
Analysis by an IU research team shows that online students achieve their course completion on average 27 percent faster than before by using Syntea.
(Image: Matzer / IU)
“At IU, a variety of digital learning media, such as learning videos, are created every year,” continued Schütt. “With AI, creation can be done more efficiently and quickly. This also includes, for example, translations from English into German, including voice output with an English accent.” “The IU relies on Syntea to answer questions from students about course content and other content,” reports Kevin Fischer. “We are building teams to be able to deliver even more products. We currently have four teams working on AI, but we are building three more.” So AI usage is clearly a growth sector.
Fischer said IU plans to continue deploying new services and solutions as it creates the next generation of its course offerings. “Our team in the AWS account constantly informs us about changes and helps us solve problems.” The university is democratizing education through cloud technology.
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