Blackboard Learn deploys to new AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region 

Blackboard clients across Africa to benefit from superior user experience and faster performance

Cape Town, South Africa — Feb. 14, 2022 — Blackboard, now part of Anthology, today announced it will now host Blackboard Learn for institutions across Africa in Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Africa (Cape Town) Region. Hosting Blackboard Learn in the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region will enable Blackboard to deliver lower latency services to learners, as well as better performance, flexibility and scalability for learning management system (LMS) clients.

The move closely follows Anthology and Blackboard’s previously announced merger and expands the company’s footprint in Africa— particularly South Africa — where several major institutions have deployed Blackboard solutions to support remote and blended learning models in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Blackboard worked closely with AWS to support this unprecedented surge in users.

“We have worked hand-in-hand with AWS to facilitate access to uninterrupted, anywhere-anytime learning, which became particularly crucial to institutions navigating the pandemic,” said Oleg Figlin, Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Blackboard. “With AWS as our cloud provider, we are helping to ensure academic continuity and learner success in this time of flux. Over the last year, we have seen continuing growth across the African region — by relying on the global footprint of AWS, and by leveraging their expertise and technology, we managed to efficiently scale our presence and our solutions to meet this increased demand,” he said.

The new regional deployment is available today for new Blackboard Learn SaaS deployment instances and also supports transition from managed or self-hosted Blackboard Learn instances.

AWS Africa (Cape Town) marks AWS’s twenty-third Region, and its first in Africa. Like all other AWS Regions, it is built to meet high levels of security and data protection, and will support clients in their compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

“We are proud to support Blackboard as they partner with the education community to steer them through this rapidly evolving landscape. With Blackboard’s shift to the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region, its clients will benefit from a faster user experience and lower data transit costs. We will continue to work with Blackboard to scale its reach, its platforms and to transform digital teaching and learning around the world,” said Linda Siso, Head of Education South Africa at AWS.