National Board of Accreditation
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The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) in India, responsible for assessing technical education programs, partnered with HCL Infosystems to develop an IT platform to enhance transparency and efficiency in the accreditation process. The project involved creating online systems for accreditation applications, conference management, and video conferencing, with a timeline of 11 months for implementation. The initiative aims to save costs, improve administrative efficiency, and offer real-time access to information for stakeholders, with significant savings projected annually.
National Board of Accreditation
- 1. Client Brief National Board of Accreditation (NBA), India is an autonomous body that undertakes periodic assessment of professional programmes in various technicaldisciplinesofferedatvariouslevelsbytechnicalinstitutions.NBA is the only authorized body in India entrusted with the task of undertaking accreditationoftechnicaleducationprogrammes. The objective of NBA is to stimulate the quality of teaching, self- evaluation, and accountability in the higher education system in order to help institutions adopt curriculum and teaching practices that will enable themtoproducehigh-qualityprofessionals. HCL Enables National Board of Accreditation to Promote International Quality Standards for Technical Education Education
- 2. ClientRequirements NBA is committed to promoting international quality standards for technical education in India and offer totally transparent, credible and efficient accreditation process. To boost this initiative further, it decided to develop an IT platform for its stakeholders (Institutes, Industry experts, committee members, students and parents) in order to seamlessly interactwiththem. The project involved the humungous task of performing quality accreditations of more than 20,000 programmes offered by over 2000 institutions spread across India. This prompted NBA to look for an IT partner that can develop an IT platform and seamlessly integrateitwithstakeholdersinvolvedinthe accreditationprocesses Theengagementscopeincluded- ŸEnrichment of the IT platform with Total OfficeAutomationsolutions ŸTaking initiatives towards a green, paperlessoffice ŸCreation of multiple channels of interactionwiththestakeholders ŸAutomation of accreditation and other officeprocedures ŸProvidingan efficient working platform to NBAemployeesandassociates ŸProviding access of information to public and stakeholders on real-time basis in utmosttransparentmanner SolutionsOffered HCL Infosystems was shortlisted as an IT partnertotranslateNBA’sconceptandideas for e-solution into reality for this project by NBA. After carrying out a detailed diagnostic study, HCL offered the following portfolioof solutionstoNBA- Online Platform for Accreditation Application Process - HCL created a real-time dashboard for all stakeholders to seamlessly interact during the accreditation process. This included a Messaging System to get real-time messages, Online Accreditation Application Submission, Online Fee Submission via payment gateway, Submission of electronic Self Assessment Report (SAR), Visit Team Information, Online Evaluation Reports Submission, Notification System with timelines / reminders for timely completion of the accreditation process electronic management of various committee meetings involved in the accreditation process and final award of accreditation status to the Institute. HCL ensured transparency in the system throughtheentireprocess Conference Management System - HCL created a Conference Management System to enable online management of various NBA conferences. This included an announcement of conferences, publishing of conference details, management of conference committees submission and review of papers. Other features of this solution included driving conference registrations, conference pass printing, online feedback by attendees, real-time publishing of Ÿ Ÿ
- 3. conferences details, access to all features of conference such as profile of speakers, speaker’s time slot during conference, answering of queries, web cast, digital poster presentation, time schedule of technical sessions and any changes thereinonanysmartphones IntegratedVideoConferencingPlatform- HCL Infosystems integrated the best-in- class teleconferencing and multiparty video conferencing platform of Adobe to facilitate NBA to interact with its stakeholders. These video conferencing solutions delivered exceptionally rich interaction between the participants from anywhere, anytime, on virtually any device with just a click of the button. The stakeholders now have a facility for video appointment on anywhere, as per office timings,tosavecostandtime. The complete project had an aggressive timeline of 11 months which included development of 17 different application modules required to automate the overall manual functioning of all the sections of NBA. The project was divided into two phases for faster roll-out of services. Phase-I involved delivery of key modules like Accreditation, Conference, Meeting and Video Conferencing. Regular feedback was sought from the client to ensure that all the requirements of the customer are fully met. Phase-I of the project is already live and phaseIIshallgo-liveinMay2013. Further, the complete software application was hosted at the Data Centre (DC)/Disaster Ÿ FutureRoadmap HCL is also working with NBA on future roadmap, where NBA would like to offer Training Module and NBA Associate Module. In the proposed modules, the institutes who want to become an associate with the NBA and want to avail the online guest lecture facilities can do so via the video conferencing platform by registering as an associate with NBA. The associate institute can search the guest faculty database and can seek an appointment with any guest faculty for delivering the lecture using the Video Conferencing platform. The Training module comprises web based online-training at the nodal centre and via video conference with the resource person. Recovery (DR) using cloud platform to ensure the system was up and running all the time. This also lead to faster Go-Live as the virtual machines offered flexibility to the customer for using the virtual infrastructureaspertheirrequirement. This platform has also enabled NBA’s authorized officials to work and discharge their duties on anywhere and anytime basis using mobile devices such as laptop, notebookandsmartphones.
- 4. Copyright @ HCL Infosystems Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior permission is prohibited. The names of the actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. All content/information present here is the exclusive property of HCL Infosystems Ltd. The content/information contained here is believed to be accurate ate the time of publishing. HCL shall not be liable for damage of any kind use of this information, which is subjecttochangewithoutnotice. About HCL Infosystems HCLInfosystemsLtd.withrevenue(LTM)ofUS$2.0billion(Rs10,401crores)isIndia'sPremierTechnologyCompanyandoffers a wide spectrum of IT Services and Products ranging from Cloud to Learning Solutions. As a complete IT solutions provider the company offers comprehensive offerings in Enterprise Application Services, IT Infrastructure Managed Services, System Integration, Office Automation Products and Services, Distribution and Support Services. The company operates in both the Consumer and the Enterprise space – offering the latest mobility products and operating in verticals like BFSI, Telecom, and Healthcarerespectively. HCL Care, the support and service division of the company has one of the largest and most extensive service networks across the country and provides end to end support services for various IT, Telecom and Consumer Electronics products.HCL Infosystems has one of the largest distribution network of digital lifestyle global brands and an unparalleled robust service network in the country including Tier 2 and 3 cities. Digilife Distribution and Marketing Services (DDMS), a 100% subsidiary of HCL Infosystems focuses on multi brand distribution and offers value added distribution for its partners including strategic consulting services, last mile connect and support in marketing and promotions. HCL Learning a division of the company covers the entire spectrum of education and training requirements across schools, colleges, individuals and enterprises and offers rich learning solutions across these segments. HCL Infosystems MEA (Middle East and Africa), a fully owned subsidiary of HCL Infosystems is part of the emerging markets outreach of the company and focuses on expanding the business in the Middle East and African geographies and provides comprehensive IT solutions to customers across verticals in the region. The company also has robust operations in Singapore with its subsidiary HCL Insys Pte. Ltd. gaining traction in the region with its EnterprisesolutionsincludingastrongofferinginInfrastructureManagedServices. Formoreinformationpleasevisitusatwww.hclinfosystems.com For more details, please contact us at [email protected] www.hclinfosystems.comor visit us at BusinessBenefits Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ SavingofapproximatelyRs4.28croresper year by NBA and the institutes. These savings include cost of paper, storage spaceandcouriercost 75% saving of time during the complete accreditationprocess 14000 kgs. of estimated paper saved per yearduringtheaccreditationprocess Saving of AMC cost of 20% due to cloud platform Network/Serviceuptimeof99.5% Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ The platform exhibits transparency in thefunctioningoftheNBA CapextoOpexConversion Replacement of cumbersome processes involving follow-up and maintenance of the contemporary File Process with an electronic, automated file handling process Improved work efficiency of NBA throughprocessautomation