Page 35 - School Planning & Management, September 2017

will work with a partner who is able to construct and deliver both smart and IoT outcomes — designing, planning and implementing technology from a central point, ensuring systems interoperation and a network sized to handle all of the information traveling across it. “A strategic advisor can help administrators look at how integrated technology supports an overall mission of student achievement, in addition to saving first costs, which can be ploughed back into things they didn’t know they could afford,” says Mann. “They’re beginning to talk with us about creating
a technology roadmap, including plans for paying for it via such methods as tax credits and rebates.”
A large part of the roadmap to which Mann refers is based on the building sensing changes and acting on them. For example, in the case of a fire, the build- ing sensing the smoke, unlocking doors, lighting an egress path, sending a text alert to staff and teachers telling them where it is, notifying the fire department and more. “In building the roadmap,” he says, “we want to start at the beginning and talk through all the opportunities and how the systems get tied together and are used to drive outcomes like higher performance, safety, comfort and sustainability.”
Not to be overlooked in the planning process is policy. While it may be impor- tant for a museum to track the areas its visitors use, is it as important for a school to know how many times students have gone to the bathroom? “If people know they are being tracked, are they going to be happy about it,” asks Gusky? “We have to ask how much information we want
to track and what information is really important.”
Late Adopters
Because of cost, security challenges and the desire to invest in something that has a proven return on investment by delivering intended outcomes, experts indicate that schools will be late adopt- ers. The good thing about this is that the
kinks will be worked out in the meantime. Also, the construction process will change toward integrated project delivery so that the entire team is discussing IoT priori- ties at the beginning of a project. When they’re ready to get on board, administra- tors will know from the beginning what they’re purchasing, how it works, how it benefits them, how secure it is and how scalable it is.
What will drive adoption is gained efficiencies and energy savings. “People
are looking into whether the investments they make are generating the right kinds of metrics: safety, smoother processes, a better experience for the end users,” says Jamie Milne, IoT Engagement Manager for World Wide Technology. “Having a clear definition of those goals is really important, and not to be overlooked in the excitement about imple- menting the newest, latest and greatest.”
And, with changing demographics and the public becoming more technology- and achievement-minded, so will schools’ brands drive IoT adoption. “Technology
is going to drive your brand,” says Mann. “It is going to allow administrators to say, ‘We’re the most safe, secure, comfortable and technology savvy school. You should send your students here.’”
Returning to CDW-G’s survey numbers, 83 percent of respondents expect their IoT investments to increase through the next five years, by an average of 47 percent, and 82 percent indicate that the majority of schools/districts will have incorporated IoT into their core functional areas in five years. Planning now for the future allows you to ensure that all the pieces are integrated and that you can focus on providing high-quality education to your students. “We call it the art of the possible,” sums Mann. SPM
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