Smart Campus Tools 2021

Abstract

On January 30, 2020, the WHO Emergency Committee declared a global health emergency based on increasing reports of Chinese and international cases. The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 has also affected education systems around the world. This means that more than 1.6 billion students, representing 91% of all students in the world, have felt the impact of COVID-19 on their study environments. The Smart Campus Tools and SCT 2.0 research has revealed that the use of SCTs is well known among Dutch and foreign universities. But, because the COVID-19 crisis is a recent and still current event, there is a gap in the literature with the insights on how universities and organizations have utilized SCTs during this period. This research aims to reflect the use of SCTs in the COVID-19 period at universities and other organizations. In addition, it identifies differences in the use of SCTs in the intervening years between the SCT 2.0 research and this study. This was ascertained through a literature study, the first brainstorming session, a case study at nine Dutch and five foreign universities and at three other organizations, and finally a second brainstorming session. Based on the outcomes of this research, it can be concluded that since the changes around the COVID-19 virus, existing or new SCTs have contributed to the ‘back-to-campus/office’ phase. This has been achieved through reservation tools for individual study places and/or tools that display crowding indications in the buildings. This has facilitated the monitoring of the number of users in the buildings and the ability to regulate capacity. Recommendations are provided to show campus managers the possibilities around the newly created problem; the "digital towel" in reservations (no-shows). Lastly, the research stresses the importance of quantitative research for further research on this topic.