Planning Priorities

We've started our new year round of Strategic Planning with the Faculties - exchanging information about their planning priorities and ours so that when we come to submit them as part of the planning round, they are complementary to each other. Currently our plans consist of 5 priorities in three areas  - new developments, business as usual and things to change. These will be discussed and refined over the next couple of weeks with fellow Professional Service Directors and colleagues from Faculties. So, here's our first pass:

 
Priorities
Research support
- provide and manage the key elements of IT infrastructure that are needed to support effective research and innovation (network, storage, HPC, support) as a central facility, which will for a high level of standard delivery be free at the point of use.
Infrastructure
- invest in the development, build and design of our IT infrastructure (especially in storage, as a major priority in the coming year) to enhance the University's strategic agility, as well as the  sustainability and cost effectiveness of the Universities key business area
IT and information Security
- accelerate the rollout of information and IT security training and awareness, together with increasing our ability to protect the University’s information resources due to increased risk of cybersecurity threats and compliance challenges.
   
Learning and teaching
- develop a new model for supporting learning and teaching working with learning technologists in departments, research innovative and flexible use of space, improve availability of the learning platform, review lecture capture and other teaching technologies,  improve digital literacy of staff

Student system review
- play a major role in the review of the student system including scoping requirements, reviewing and mapping current business processes and market testing of available systems

Business as usual
Mobile
- ensure that all services are appropriate to the devices used by our users

Wireless
- accelerate wireless rollout to cover 90% of campus by end of 2015

Support the University’s Digital presence
-  including MOOCS, iTunesU, new website

Sustainability
- an increasing number of services to support and critical nature of IT systems to the University's business, mean that new services have to be sustainable, scalable and resilient.

Process improvement
- continuous improvement of University processes to improve efficiency and provide better services

Things to change
Digital by design
- think digital first. Don't take paper based processes and digitise them. Design digital processes so that customers prefer to use them.

Service management
- develop new service portfolio and use this to implement industry standard best practice service management processes

Civic engagement
- better resource the way we support and enhance events through the innovative uses of technology

IT service delivery model
- implement more efficient means of delivering IT services across the university, to reduce duplication of effort, improve quality of service, improve compliance, and build more effective career pathways for IT staff

How we collaborate
- make better use of the collaborative technologies available, including google apps, to work more effectively.