Global Education Leaders and Technology Experts Meet in Dubai for SunGard Higher Education User Group Conference

Representatives from 22 Countries Share Experiences and Present Insights on Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World

SunGard Higher Education, a global provider of software solutions and strategic consulting for colleges and universities, is hosting an annual gathering of higher education leaders and technology experts in Dubai. The 8th annual Middle East User Group Conference is taking place at the Westin, Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort, from 8th to10th November 2009.

The conference themed “Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World: Convenience, Collaboration, Convergence” features keynote presentations by the chancellors of both American University of Cairo and American University of Sharjah, as well as education practitioners from across the Middle East and guests from Asia, Europe and United States. Participants from all over the region will share their experiences and best practices as well as gain critical insights on using Web 2.0 technologies to help transform their institutions.

Mathew Boice, general manager EMEA, SunGard Higher Education, said: “This year’s user group conference showcases our new Open Digital Campus vision, and focuses on possibilities for teaching and learning transformation enabled by Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0 technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for people to integrate their activities online as they collaborate and share resources online.”

The conference provides a variety of networking opportunities for interaction with consultants, technical experts and product specialists from SunGard Higher Education and its partners. In addition to keynotes, there will be demonstrations, case studies and discussions from technical experts representing ten key event sponsors – Blackboard, Dell, International Turnkey Systems, IMS, Nuventive, Oracle, Residential Management Systems, SciQuest, TouchNet,  and UC4.

One of the high points of the conference is the announcement of the Open Digital Campus, a recently announced vision and technology strategy that aims to give colleges and universities more flexibility to shape how technology meets their evolving needs.

“The Open Digital Campus is a technology evolution and the realization of the future of computing.  We promote an open, collaborative user community.  Meetings like this are vital ways to share expertise and keep up with ongoing developments of new solutions.  Participants will gain insightful perspectives on helping their institutions achieve strategic goals,” said Mr. Boice.

About SunGard Higher EducationSunGard Higher Education serves colleges, universities and foundations in 40 countries worldwide.  Through its Open Digital Campus strategy, SunGard collaborates with the higher education community and provides software and services to help institutions find better ways to teach, learn, manage and connect.  www.sungardhe.com

About SunGard
SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and IT services companies.  SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries.

SunGard provides software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector.   SunGard also provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services and business continuity management software.

With annual revenue exceeding $5 billion, SunGard is ranked 435 on the Fortune 500 and is the largest privately held business software and services company on the Forbes list of private businesses. Based on information compiled by Datamonitor*, SunGard is the third largest provider of business applications software after Oracle and SAP. Continuity, Insurance & Risk has recognized SunGard as service provider of the year an unprecedented six times.  For more information, please visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.

*January 2009 Technology Vendors Financial Database Tracker http://www.datamonitor.com

Trademark information: SunGard, the SunGard logo and Open Digital Campus are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.