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PACE ONLINE / CASE STUDY

NIHSS Virtual Doctoral School

A private digital campus connecting a national research community beyond events.

Education & communities2021–2026Delivered platform; enhancement programme
NIHSS Virtual Doctoral School from the Pace project library.
NIHSS Virtual Doctoral School from the Pace project library.

A community that continues between events

The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences brings together scholars, mentors and regional doctoral schools across South Africa. Conferences and workshops create connections, but a dispersed community also needs somewhere to share work, find people and continue conversations. The Virtual Doctoral School provides that private digital home.

A governed web and mobile experience

Pace delivered the member portal and companion Android and iOS applications, with profiles, groups, posts, forums, events and communication tools under the NIHSS identity. Member onboarding, roles and administrator controls support a community run by the Institute. Three releases between 2022 and 2024 were followed by administrator training and user documentation.

Modernising the platform without changing its address

A subsequent enhancement programme re-engineered the web, API and mobile layers using React, Node.js and Flutter. Development included native meetings and recordings, calling features and iPad support. The September 2026 delivery record marks development complete with NIHSS user acceptance still pending. This distinction separates the established service from acceptance of the latest enhancement release.

Continuity is part of the product

Hosting evolved from Google Cloud to a containerised environment while retaining vs.nihss.ac.za. Separate live and testing environments support controlled releases. Help and operations documentation gives the client a durable account of the platform, alongside ongoing hosting, maintenance and support. NIHSS retains ownership of the commissioned platform's intellectual property.

THE DELIVERY

A private web and mobile community, supported across successive releases, with training and a documented path for platform evolution.

YOUR NEXT PROJECT

Bring your members into a community you control.

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