Digital strides

• Over the past year, we have achieved significant progress in Oxford’s digital transformation
• The new digital governance framework is proving effective and several digital initiatives have made great strides
• Our continuous improvement digital delivery model has succeeded in pilot projects and will soon be expanded to other service areas
• The upcoming Digital Governance Unit (DGU) will further strengthen digital oversight across Oxford

This time last year, colleagues were adopting a new governance framework for oversight of digital investments and activities. I am delighted to report a year later that the framework is embedded and we are beginning to see the benefits. It’s often easy to take this sort of thing for granted, nevertheless, I sense that we have managed to rewire how we think about and make decisions about digital. We have more to do but it is with relief that we can see the new approach working. It is also good to see the work of the foundational piece of digital transformation – integrating systems, filling gaps, removing burden – begin to resonate with colleagues; sometimes, it’s the mundane that actually transforms how we work. 

In previous blogs, I have talked about the governance and delivery framework and in the last academic year, colleagues in AAD have piloted a new delivery model that adopts agile methodology and begins to move us from big projects to a more continuous improvement of services, incrementally updating informed by users and their usage. With this model, end-users have a big say in how digital products and systems can be continuously improved. The pilot projects in the Education portfolio have proved incredibly valuable. They have helped us understand where there are challenges and through experimentation, we have developed a model that will now be adopted on other service areas. Moving to this continuous improvement approach with end-users – Oxford’s academics, researchers, professional services staff and students – is perhaps the most transformative part of this whole programme of change. I believe that with such agility, staff, students and collaborators will benefit and will enjoy a much better user experience in their interaction with University digital services.

Technology evolves every day, which is another reason we’re partnering with tech companies including Microsoft and OpenAI to ensure our staff and students can have access to the latest and most appropriate tools. As part of our AI and Machine Learning Competency Centre, two major generative AI tools – ChatGPT Edu and Copilot for Microsoft 365 – are currently available for purchase by all departments and colleges across the University. Using this central licensing model means that we can ensure the tools are used safely and data isn’t leaking out and used for training models. I was fascinated to hear colleagues describing how they’re simplifying their daily work at the ‘AI and me’ session at this year’s Digital Festival. This is an opportunity for you, staff, to use the power of AI for research, teaching or administration, while protecting your data and collaborating with other users across the University. More information can be found on the Buying Generative AI Licenses webpage.

Enabling staff and students to develop their digital capabilities is a key priority. Departments and groups are beginning to use the Digital Skills Toolkit to help. If your team is not working with one of our four competency centres yet, read this explainer to see how expert colleagues in AI, workflow and automation, cloud computing for research, and cyber security can show you new possibilities, help you find solutions to technical conundrums or upskill you with training from internal and external experts.

This year, colleagues across Oxford delivered some landmark initiatives paving the way for further innovation, including our new student app MyOxford, our new Online Education Hub and the User Experience (UX) Centre of Excellence.

The last major piece of Oxford’s digital transformation governance picture is our forthcoming new Digital Governance Unit (DGU). The DGU will be a new business unit focused on providing coherence and appropriate governance across the digital investments and services. You can read more in this DGU Explainer.

My thanks to everyone involved in helping Oxford to make such digital strides.

My best wishes to you and your families. I hope the holiday period is fun and a Happy New Year.