This month’s Convergence Conference in Calgary will feature a pre-conference workshop on Making the Most of Cybera: Alberta’s Public, Digital Resource on Wednesday, October 25.
This half-day session will provide an overview of the many services Cybera members have access to, including:
- Internet Buying Group (the internet bulk buying program)
- Shared firewall pilot
- High-speed National Research and Education Network
- ShareIT (the hardware/software bulk buying program)
- Federated Identity (enabling single sign-on to shared services)
- Rapid Access Cloud (instant-access cloud infrastructure)
- Jupyter (the all-in-one science platform to learn and share coding and research)
- Data science
- Government advocacy
- Technology-neutral advice/consultations
The session will also include group brainstorming to explore the short- and long-term digital needs of Alberta educators, and how Cybera can support those needs. The results of these discussions will help guide Cybera’s next three-year strategic plan, and prioritize actions that meet the future needs of our members and stakeholders.
This is an opportunity to learn more about how your Cybera membership can benefit your organization, and have a say in the future of Alberta’s digital infrastructure!
Other Conference Sessions Featuring Cybera:
Securing Student Data in the Connected Classroom
Thursday, October 26
9:15 – 10:15
Cybera and Alberta Education have been working with 12 Alberta school authorities on a two-year pilot to develop an Alberta Identity Federation. In this session, we will discuss our experiences during the pilot, and show how Identity Federations can address privacy and security concerns.
The Data Frontier: Data Science in Alberta and K-12
Thursday, October 26
14:15 – 15:15
Cybera will share its experience of organizing an in-house data science team, including our tools and analyses, in order to maximize reproducibility and transferability. We will describe projects applicable to the K-12 sector, including data science tools made available to any interested students or staff. We will also brainstorm new project ideas.
Come Together: Moving Shared IT Forward in Alberta
Friday, October 27
8:15 – 9:15
ShareIT is a shared IT procurement service that was formed by Alberta’s post-secondary institutions, and launched in the spring of 2017. Last month, it welcomed Alberta’s K-12 school districts to take advantage of existing ShareIT procurement contracts. This presentation will look at the potential services and tools that ShareIT could offer going forward, and the cost-savings they would provide.
You Shall Not Pass: Tackling Cybersecurity
Friday, October 27
8:15 – 9:15
This session will introduce a number of cybersecurity initiatives offered by Cybera, as well as some best practice advice. Presenters will focus on Cybera’s Firewall as a Service pilot for Alberta K-12 schools, as well as the CIRA D-Zone Anycast DNS and DNS Firewall.
About the Convergence Conference
The Convergence Conference explores all aspects of Educational Technology. Be inspired by education technology implementations in great sessions for teachers, education technology professionals and leaders committed to the future of student-centered learning. Share discoveries and collaborate on solutions for your greatest challenges, all while connecting with a wide range of education technology resources. There will be sessions tailored specifically to Post-Secondary education along side the inspiring K-12 program.