We're all transforming

Since my last blog, we have had an energetic nine months for the foundational Phase 1 of Oxford’s Digital Transformation programme. 

We started by getting the basics right to fix known problems and improve existing systems. I’m glad to report that progress is being made with several systems, processes and workflows. These improvements are often ‘under the bonnet’ but are helping to simplify life for academics, researchers, professional services staff and students. Happily, X5, our research funding tool, should no longer time out, allowing you to complete your grant application process. And the scaling-up of in-person typed exams at the Examinations Schools is very much underway. 

It’s been an exciting time recently as we’ve been gathering inputs from a series of investigative pieces of work, commissioned as part of Phase 1.  

During Hilary term, more than 500 colleagues and students from across the collegiate University shared their ideas and insights as part of these investigations. My sincere gratitude to everyone for their contribution – it is fundamental to the success of the Digital Transformation programme. 

The investigative projects analysed the potential for areas that were highlighted as a priority but where we were less certain of how to deliver solutions. They’ve explored how we can deliver trusted research environments, make a step change in internal and external communication platforms and improve the student experience through a single hub or app for student services. These investigations have provided ideas for us to ensure Oxford’s digital experience can be more accessible, better designed, secure and better connected. 

I’m delighted to report that we’ve introduced three new competency centres – supporting cybersecurity, research cloud computing and workflow and automation. This is a new concept for Oxford, which I hope will help us embed new technologies in the way we work – whether that’s understanding how to automate some administrative systems or how to use AI with research data. The centres will help identify solutions to problems, provide training and most importantly help colleagues understand the tools that are available and how they work. Incidentally, I had the pleasure of meeting the first cohort of colleagues on our new accredited cybersecurity training – read the full story. 

At the time of writing this blog, we are also preparing our business case for the next phase of transformation, focusing on staff and students’ digital needs, the transition to Oxford’s new digital governance and delivery model, and the implementation of recommendations from the IT infrastructure service review.  

In Michaelmas term 2023, we aim to have the new Governance Framework in place and will begin a pilot of the new delivery model. These changes should, over time, mean that staff and students see services improving continuously and new capability being added as needed. 

As you can imagine, this is a fascinating and complex voyage for the University and for all of us. Sometimes, it may feel like we’re not going fast enough, or perhaps that we’re going too fast. I often say digital transformation is not about the digital, it’s about the transformation. It’s about how we adapt the way we work, the processes we put in place, the way we integrate the physical and digital world and developing our skills to be as effective as possible in our design and use of digital services. 

Given Oxford’s rich and unique nature, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to how teams or departments work best. As we move forward, it will be with carefully coordinated experimenting, learning, adjusting, re-learning and transforming. We’ll have opportunities – individually and collectively – to innovate and come up with ideas to fix everyday work conundrums.    

 Again – thank you to those colleagues and students who have helped us get this far. I look forward to continuing to work with you in the future.