Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Jordanian University Seeks to Set a Record With New Computer Lab By DANIEL DEL CASTILLO The University of Jordan is trying to make it into Guinness World Records by constructing a computer lab of more than 14,580 square feet that will have at least 400 computers linked to the Internet. "We claim it will be the largest hall in the world with computers all connected to the Internet," says Abdullah al-Musa, the president of the university, which is in Jordan's capital, Amman. It is unclear whether such a claim would be valid. Peter B. DeBlois, director of communication services at Educause, the educational-technology consortium, said: "Educause isn't in any position to verify a claim like that." The project, which is expected to be completed in May or June, has a budget of about $1.4-million and is sponsored in part by the World Bank. Construction of the hall is in line with a university plan, formulated two years ago, that calls for the campus to have 1,000 computers available for its 20,000 students. "We have now exceeded that with 1,300 computers available in 34 places around the campus. Soon we'll have a total of 1,700," Mr. al-Musa says. The University of Jordan, which was established in 1962 as the first higher-education institution in the kingdom, is now aggressively pursuing information technology in accordance with a new strategy for developing Jordan into a regional hub of computer and high-technology industry. "Our thrust in information technology fits in with King Abdullah's initiatives. He is pro-IT, and this project fits in with his agenda," says Mr. al-Musa. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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