Speaker
Description
Shola, A. A.
NIGERIAN ARMY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION(NACOE)
aremuabdulsalam@gmail.com
Track: Digital Transformation in Higher Education
Universities are increasingly adopting cloud services, online learning systems, and connected campus infrastructure to support teaching, research, administration, communication, and student services. These technologies enhance institutional efficiency and accessibility while creating complex challenges for protecting sensitive student and institutional data. This study synthesizes contemporary evidence on data protection challenges in digitally transforming universities, focusing on cloud services, online learning systems, and connected campus infrastructure. Evidence from current research was critically analyzed to identify major data protection risks, technological vulnerabilities, institutional challenges, and emerging practices for safeguarding university data across these interconnected environments. The synthesis indicates that universities face persistent challenges involving data privacy, unauthorized access, identity and access management, insecure system integration, third-party cloud dependencies, cyber threats, inadequate security awareness, legacy infrastructure, and limited institutional cybersecurity capacity. Increasing interconnection among cloud applications, learning platforms, connected devices, campus networks, and administrative systems further expands the institutional attack surface and complicates data governance and protection. The study proposes an integrated university data protection framework that aligns cloud security, online learning system protection, connected campus security, governance, access management, user awareness, and institutional risk management. Effective data protection requires coordinated cybersecurity governance, continuous monitoring, secure technology integration, institutional capacity development, and sustained investment in cybersecurity. The proposed framework provides practical guidance for university leaders, information technology professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders seeking to strengthen data protection within increasingly interconnected higher education environments.
Keywords: Data protection; Universities; Cloud services; Online learning systems; Connected campus; Cybersecurity; Institutional data.