The global spread of Covid-19 has enhanced the adoption of virtual education and the use of technology in order to reduce the risk of contagion. Recently, the academics have turn out to be more technology-orientated and the educational establishments continue to seek opportunities in order to adopt an environment where all researchers could have access to high-quality scientific resources at anytime and anywhere in the world. Cloud computing is a model, which provides the users with services and application software on-demand, using the Internet. While the use of cloud computing applications is growing, there are ongoing research challenges related to guaranteeing security, privacy and the integration of the cloud applications. To the extent of our knowledge, the present study is the first from this type to thoroughly present the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cloud computing environment in higher education institutions in Iraqi universities. This study will critically analysis the views of the faculty staff and researchers in Iraqi universities on cloud computing. It also tries to take a quick look at how Iraqi university staff responded to the epidemic in terms of research activities. The results shows that about 99% of the respondents considered the cloud applications to have great role in encouraging the research works in their institutes. Concerning the benefits of cloud services, the availability and saving cost were selected as most important factors that encouraging the adoption of cloud services. On the other hand, issues related to performance, lack of user control were selected as major problems in applying cloud services in Iraqi institutions Finally, it can be concluding that reducing the risks of the security, authorization, control and providing better performance of cloud services can enhance the use of cloud applications by researchers at Iraqi universities.
Cloud Computing Technologies Adoption in Higher Education Inistitutes During COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study
