UAE, Dubai

2020

The University of Birmingham opened the doors to its state-of-the-art 35,139 sqm. Dubai Campus which offers a cutting-edge, smart campus with a student experience like no other. In 2020, the Dubai Campus programme had completed its final Stage 4 Design. PTS was engaged by the University to undertake a smart maturity assessment of this design. This included: 

• Reviewing elements of ‘smart technology’ and innovation included in existing Dubai plans 
• Creating a report to assess the campus using a ‘bronze, silver, gold’ rating system 
• Detailing additional smart technologies that could be considered as part of the Dubai project  

The assessment report needed to elicit and articulate answers to the following questions: 

• Without making any material changes to the design, what will the campus be inherently capable of enabling from a ‘campus intelligence’ perspective? 
• With minor changes to the design, how will the level of smart maturity improve i.e. is there any low hanging fruit to be gained from slight adjustments? 
• Are there any crucial use cases that will be critically undermined without considered changes to the design?

PTS undertook a review of the following systems and designs: 

• Building Systems
  • Building Management Systems 
  • Security 
  • Metering 
  • Lighting Control 
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Space Utilisation & Occupancy Monitoring 

• Enabling elements 
  • Passive Infrastructure (cabling, DCs, Comms Rooms)
  • Active Network Infrastructure (WAN, Wi-Fi, Firewalls, etc.)
  • LoRaWAN Sensor Network
  • Middleware: the hardware/software layer that enables smart systems and surfaces data
  • Audio Visual (Remote Learning, Room booking, collaboration tech, signage) 

Throughout the report, PTS evaluated each building element against a Bronze, Silver or Gold status measured against a number of key metrics for each discipline. Each page included narrative on our findings and then a current state rating (Bronze, Silver or Gold). We also provided guidance on how to elevate this rating to the next level. 

As well a report detailing the above findings, PTS developed a University of Birmingham Dubai Smart Campus Playbook. In this Playbook, we built a series of Smart Campus Use Cases and Scenarios that told a story about what the campus would enable for its users now and in the future. 

Thanks to its partnership with PTS, the University has derived the following benefits: 

• A broad and detailed assessment of the gap between the current design and the desired future state, with all aspects of the design and supporting foundations evaluated and clear recommendations made to address any areas of importance 
• A smart campus playbook personalised for its Dubai campus users which demonstrates the benefits of a smart campus in language that all users can understand. 
• All advice and guidance provided from a vendor-agnostic perspective, giving the University confidence that the recommendations were purely in the best interest of the University and its stakeholders