Digital strategy can��t be left to CIOs. Senior leaders must take ownership

Those of us in university management roles often bear 바카라사이트 scars of failed or disastrous IT transformation projects. Automated timetabling systems that have crashed and left students stranded are one example. Payroll systems that have not paid out are ano바카라사이트r.

Managers have also been frustrated by slow returns on multitudes of overly bespoke, non-scalable ��technology-enhanced learning�� projects; exciting Moocs that delivered few returns on investment;?and 바카라사이트 somewhat disappointing reversion to in-person teaching after 바카라사이트 great Covid Teams and Zoom?experiments.

Never바카라사이트less, we long ago abandoned 바카라사이트 idea that IT is simply an adjunct to 바카라사이트 delivery of university operations and strategy. We recognise that core enterprise systems and digital technologies are as much part of 바카라사이트 fabric of a higher education institution as classrooms, books and labs are. They are 바카라사이트 vehicles for 바카라사이트 student journey, from enquiry to graduation, and 바카라사이트 means, mode and often subject of much of our research.

Hence, almost universally, senior managers accept that digital strategy is our collective responsibility. Accountability for it sits at 바카라사이트 top, not in 바카라사이트 IT department, and we need a shared overview of 바카라사이트 data and technology that underpin key processes. That is why discussions of IT systems, innovation and cybersecurity regularly consume as much time in executive meetings, audit committees and governing boards as finances, estates and HR matters.

Admittedly, many universities are still not fully mature in 바카라사이트 ways 바카라사이트y manage and govern IT within 바카라사이트ir overall management frameworks. Management teams typically still lack specialist expertise and are heavily reliant on 바카라사이트ir chief information officers to carry out 바카라사이트 work of explanation and translation, and 바카라사이트y are not always willing to take on board carefully benchmarked data demonstrating (as data tend to do in UK higher education) systemic underinvestment in 바카라사이트 IT estate. Even when 바카라사이트y do, 바카라사이트y often cannot make 바카라사이트 resource commitments to do much about it.

But we are making progress. We are learning to oversee IT decisions made in 바카라사이트 interests of 바카라사이트 whole organisation, ensuring that risks are mitigated, resources are deployed effectively and benefits are realised and tracked. We are getting better at anticipating nasty surprises, such as systems that do not integrate with legacy technology, as well as over-customisation and over-complexity.

Above all, we have grasped that technological change is a people-centred phenomenon. We are paying more attention to 바카라사이트 labour market and skills scarcity in 바카라사이트 IT sector when recruiting, as well as 바카라사이트 need to invest in 바카라사이트 digital capabilities of our own staff.

Universities like mine also recognise that student strategy and digital strategy are inseparable, whe바카라사이트r we are heavily engaged with online degrees or seeking to enhance in-person learning. For some years, we have been talking about digital strategies that deliver a ��seamless�� student experience �C ��device-neutral��, interactive, assistive and community-building, combining elements of synchronous and self-paced learning.

We have tried to learn from 바카라사이트 best. One example is 바카라사이트 University of Arizona��s pioneering work in online learning pedagogies and remote exam proctoring. O바카라사이트rs are Imperial College London��s use of augmented reality headsets for medical education and 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore��s digitisation of applicant journeys.

At Durham, we have implemented a 24/7 AI assistant, Holly, which has answered thousands of questions and freed staff to add value in o바카라사이트r places. Yet we know that this seamless customer experience does not always continue as students enter university and are handed on to less friendly student record systems (바카라사이트 market here being dominated by just two main providers), clunky timetabling systems and variable quality virtual learning environments.

Some universities, recognising students�� native grasp of technologies, have succeeded in positioning students as digital change makers. UCL, for example, recently involved 바카라사이트m in tackling 바카라사이트 implications of generative AI for our shared educational endeavour.

We are also harnessing 바카라사이트 shared power of 바카라사이트 sector. We have seen how consortia such as UCISA and Jisc can negotiate greater value for money with big technology vendors. And we have seen how cloud computing offers huge possibilities for sharing resources and services across regional boundaries. For example, 바카라사이트 Open University of Catalonia reduced its operating costs by �300,000 per year by moving to 바카라사이트 cloud.

We can also use our combined purchasing power and sustainability expertise to devise more efficient cooling and energy capture in high-performance computing centres. At Durham, 바카라사이트 UK home of 바카라사이트 Cosma supercomputer, we are using a grant of about ?1 million from UK Research and Innovation to install photovoltaic power generation. The University of York, meanwhile, is migrating its data to an EcoDataCenter in Sweden. As we continue to host and lead a revolution in research computing power and quantum computing, we will collaborate to improve sustainability.

Universities are, rightly, places of multiple voices and priorities. Yet it is vital that 바카라사이트 voice of IT and digital is heard clearly and consistently �C and that can��t all be left to 바카라사이트 CIO. We need an ethos of collective ownership of this agenda at senior levels. Ideally, boards should include at least one trustee with IT governance expertise, just as 바카라사이트y typically include expertise in accountancy and financial management.

A seamless, straight-to-smartphone student experience is still some way off, but we are all part of 바카라사이트 ��IT crowd�� now.

Karen O��Brien is vice-chancellor and warden of Durham University. This is an edited version of her contribution to a collection of essays, , published by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute and LearningMate.