Six Priorities

Changing how we work is an overarching theme in Boldly IT, and a cornerstone is an IT governance function for shared decision-making, direction-setting, prioritization and investment. Bringing executive stakeholders, faculty, researchers and service providers to the table, we are proposing a portfolio approach based on IT subdomains (teaching and learning, research support, data, etc.,) that will focus on creating unified strategies for those domains. 

Second, it is time that the IT community at Illinois evolves to be truly collaborative with a shared vision, strategies and goals. Today, that community has a positive, cooperative relationship, and partners well on specific and ad-hoc opportunities or in response to adverse circumstances. Our strategic plan posits more integrated ways of working to successfully implement our shared campus-wide priorities with more formal and focused relationships. 

Empowering our IT professionals is the third strategy for this priority. Making Illinois a “preferred place to work” in Higher Education IT means a commitment to exceptional talent management, an inclusive culture and opportunities for advancement and growth. The OCIO will partner closely with Illinois HR to make this strategy successful. 

Strategy 1.1: Establish Technology Governance​

• COMPLETED:
  • Identified chairs of the Teaching and Learning and the Research Technology Subcommittees. 
  • Finalized draft charter for the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee. 
• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Obtain Technology Executive Committee approval of the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee charter. 
  • Obtain confirmation from invited members for Teaching and Learning Subcommittee. 
  • Draft charters and build membership list for the Data Infrastructure and AI Subcommittee and the Research Technology Subcommittee. 
• NEXT STEPS:
  • Identify the chair of the Data Infrastructure and AI Subcommittee. 
  • Update Boldly IT website to incorporate governance subcommittees.

Strategy 1.2: Develop a formal collaborative structure for IT

• COMPLETED: Kicked off the Device Lifecycle Management and the Server Consolidation, Backups and OS Management efforts.
• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Draft the charge for the Device Lifecycle Management effort.
  • Develop business case and analysis of Server and Device Lifecycle Management efforts.
• NEXT STEPS:
  • Develop proposed funding models for Device Lifecycle Management.
  • Facilitate session with IT Council on applying lessons learned from the Cybersecurity Improvement Initiative and clarifying the role of IT Council in the new governance model. 

Strategy 1.3: Empower IT professionals​

• IN-PROGRESS: Develop plans to relaunch the IT Academy to structure intentional professional development and increase visibility of training opportunities.
• NEXT STEPS:
  • Present the draft vision statement to the Delivery Leadership Team. 
  • Select target phase 1 efforts from the overarching vision. 

In partnership with data stakeholders on campus and leveraging work from Data Operational Excellence as well as the recent System Data Strategy Task Force, we will develop a Boldly Illinois data strategy that democratizes access to institutional data. We will modernize our data infrastructure by automating manual processes, upgrading our access framework, improving our capabilities in analytics as well as removing administrative barriers to access. Security, privacy and other compliance considerations will be integral to our plan. 

Strategy 2.1: Launch a Boldly Illinois Data Initiative

• IN-PROGRESS: Plan phase one of the Boldly IT Data Strategy implementation. 

Strategy 2.2: Launch a generative AI services & support initiative

• COMPLETED:
  • Compiled feedback from fall semester AI professional development training.
  • Completed privacy and accessibility reviews for Google Gemini and NotebookLM. 
• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Migrate non-university ChatGPT accounts to a university license. 
  • Develop a generative AI comparison matrix to help users evaluate capabilities and features of different AI platforms.
  • Develop an enterprise roadmap for generative AI services, training and support.
  • Plan a new, tool-specific AI professional development series with Illinois HR to support the use of university-approved applications.
  • Conduct exploratory work to build a Retrieval-Augmented Generation agent. 

Across the board, our stakeholders told us forcibly that overly complex administrative processes are an impediment to efficiency and detract from their ability to focus on core mission activities. Automation and streamlining processes can help us reduce inefficiencies as part of a process improvement framework. This priority is a natural next step for our IT Operational Excellence work and overlaps considerably with our prioritizing the adoption of generative AI tools on campus. 

Strategy 3.1: Launch a generative AI services & support initiative

• IN-PROGRESS: Gather pilot administrative use cases for AI solutions.

Strategy 3.2: Operational Excellence process improvements and automations

• COMPLETED:
  • Formed project team for Pre-Employment Eligibility Screening Assessment. 
  • Established Operational Excellence Leaders committee in partnership between the Office of the CIO and Strategic Project Management Office. 
• IN-PROGRESS: Execute Pre-Employee Eligibility Screening project.

We are proposing a more deliberate and integrated approach among the providers of academic technology services on campus (CITL, Technology Services, colleges) to create a cohesive vision for this space with more capacity for innovation and more equitable access to academic technologies. Campuswide support for online learning is a priority for our academic stakeholders and we propose providing online learning infrastructure comprising platforms, technologies and support for hybrid and fully online classes. Improving the student experience is a key consideration under this priority. 

Strategy 4.1: Establish Teaching & Learning Governance Subcommittee

• Dean Brooke Elliott (Gies) to chair.
• NEXT STEPS: Launching the Teaching and Learning Governance Subcommittee.  

Strategy 4.2: Establish a campuswide online learning infrastructure initiative

• COMPLETED: Co-executive sponsors created the Boldly IT Online Learning Infrastructure Steering Committee. 
• IN-PROGRESS: Develop the charge for the Boldly IT Online Learning Infrastructure Steering Committee. 
• NEXT STEPS: Review and finalize the charge, develop the charter for the Boldly IT Online Learning Infrastructure Steering Committee. 

As with our support for teaching and learning, we need to take a much more cohesive and intentional approach to supporting research through the use of technology. The Boldy Illinois Research Computing Visioning Committee will inform our directions here but establishing a research support ecosystem, as well as simplifying the researcher experience, have already emerged as strategies under this priority. 

Strategy 5.1: Integrate outcomes from the Research Computing Visioning Committee

• NEXT STEPS: Integrate outcomes from the Research Computing Visioning Committee when recommendations finalized.

Strategy 5.2: Simplify the researcher experience

• COMPLETED:
  • Regulated Research Onboarding and Development kicked off the rapid response team.  
  • Regulated Research Architecture and Infrastructure drafted taxonomies, service mappings and IT responsibilities for regulatory frameworks and standards. 
• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Regulated Research Onboarding and Engagement Development: 
    • Refine Charter based on feedback, finalize commitment from team members, and create a backlog task list. 
  • Regulated Research Architecture and Infrastructure: 
    • Develop a dashboard to visualize data. 
    • Review draft documents with research and cybersecurity professionals. 
    • Design a tool to guide researchers, IT pros and administrators on infrastructure solutions. 
• NEXT STEPS:
  • Regulated Research Onboarding and Engagement Development: 
    • Establish and confirm stakeholder mapping, assessment criteria and reporting expectations. 
    • Gain approval for the intake template and onboarding checklist for regulated research consulting engagements. 
  • Regulated Research Architecture and Infrastructure will finalize service mappings and evaluate security assessments. 
  • In collaboration with OCIO/OVCRI’s Data Compliance Committee, gather requirements and complete a gap analysis for the Regulated Research Environment, and ensure non-IT requirements (policy, process, compliance and researcher workflows) are integrated into infrastructure planning. 
  • Define and document the Regulated Research Environment, including a clear outline of the broader Regulated Research landscape and how services fit together. 

Our final priority bundles the foundational IT capabilities that we need to develop and refine to support our new campuswide vision and priorities. These capabilities comprise four disciplines or best practices and five IT subdomains. Strategic initiatives recently launched in these areas will be integrated into Boldly IT. 

Strategy 6.1: Strengthen foundational IT capabilities through strategic investments and roadmap delivery

• Integrate existing infrastructure, identity, cybersecurity, privacy, accessibility and data initiatives (e.g. SailPoint IGA, Cybersecurity and Privacy roadmaps, Boldly Connected) into a unified campuswide framework.
• NEXT STEPS: Integrate the Privacy and Cybersecurity roadmap into Boldly IT. 

Strategy 6.2: Establish unified IT architecture

• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Finalize the initial Enterprise Architecture Review Board charter and membership. 
  • Establish communication and collaboration tools for the Architecture Review Board and assemble onboarding materials. 
• NEXT STEPS: Outline tasks for the next quarter and complete collaborative tool setup.  

Strategy 6.3: Modernize core infrastructure for future needs

• Develop a comprehensive roadmap for scalable computing, networking and storage supporting data-intensive research and modern learning.
• Align service roadmaps (on-prem, cloud, virtual/physical computing and data protection) with reseach, teaching and administrative priorities.

Strategy 6.4: Advance enterprise IT service delivery

• COMPLETED:
  • Advanced core ITSM practice development. 
  • Engaged pilot units for early training and implementation. 
  • Added new service offerings to the Enterprise Service Catalog. 
  • Updated training and documentation materials. 
  • Held alignment discussions with Engineering IT on Incident and Service Request Management. 
• IN-PROGRESS:
  • Two new campus working groups created and kicked off for Change Management and Major Incident Response. 
  • Refining ITSM processes and onboarding pilot units. 
  • Standardizing service offerings for the Enterprise Service Catalog. 
  • Updating training and enablement materials. 
  • Working with units to assess readiness and align expectations for phased adoption. 
• NEXT STEPS:
  • Continue ITSM practice development and support active working groups. 
  • Maintain service offering intake for the Enterprise Service Catalog. 
  • Coordinate with pilot units on training plans, readiness assessments and incremental implementation.