In what can be construed as a telling reflection of the growing proliferation of IT in third-level education University College Dublin (UCD) has put out a tender seeking some 10,000 USB memory disk keys by September this year, according to a document on the E-tenders website.
The first project by UCD Computing Services proposes to supply a free memory disk key to all first-year undergraduate students when they attend computing induction courses during registration week in September this year.
It is envisaged that some 6,000 USB keys will be provided to the students. The tender document suggests that a further quantity of 6,000 will be sought the following year.
The second project proposes to provide all staff at the university with a free USB key in September, amounting to 4,000 keys. It says a further consignment of 4,000 will be sought the following year.
In describing the scope of the project the tender document says that the university is looking for USB keys with a capacity of 256MB.
The successful bidder, the university says, may be required to upload data provided by UCD Computing Services onto the keys. As well as this there is a requirement for the UCD logo to be printed on each memory key.
By John Kennedy
