AVP & CTO Update January 28, 2019

Good morning everyone

What a difference a week makes! Last week at this time I was in Miami for a long weekend of sun and fun, and I was also two days away from our big McMaster IT Strategic Plan Launch event on January 23. And now here I am in freezing Guelph/Hamilton (COLD) and the Launch event is already part of our history. So many emotions – and since you will have no problem understanding how I feel about the cold, let’s focus on the IT Strategic Plan Launch event, shall we?

Thrilled. That about sums up how I feel about the Launch event we held last week. I am thrilled with the turn out – thank you to all of you who attended! I am thrilled with the way so many people came together to make the event possible – thank you to my AVP and CTO team, to our colleagues and friends across campus who dedicated time to create the videos and lend equipment and expertise, to the LR Wilson Hall tech team, to the communications people who pushed out information about the event before and after, and to the live stream team, photographers and so on. Thrilled with all the unsung heroes who picked up donuts and balloons, who ferried items across campus, who set up and took down the event and made sure we cleaned up after – thank you. And thrilled with how many people stayed after the formal event to mingle and talk and interact with our ‘initiative experts’, exploring some of our already in place activities – thanks to everyone who made it a celebration, including those who lingered well past 3:30. Yup, I am just thrilled.

And most of all, I am thrilled that we have turned the page and can now focus on the important activities related to unfurling this IT Strategic Plan into an action plan. There are so many things we will achieve together over the next three years – and beyond. I talk about this being a movement and in my heart I really feel it. As a collective, we will be undertaking a substantial change to our IT landscape at McMaster University and through that we will create positive change for the institution itself. I am excited to be part of it and to work alongside of you all as we make things happen.

Over the remainder of this semester, the how and what of undertaking the Strategic Plan will become more clear as we prioritize the initiatives that we want to undertake over the next three years. Communication across many channels will be critical and we will use the IT Strategy section of the CTO website as a hub for this kind of information, as I mentioned at the Launch last week. I know there are many questions that will need to be answered to provide more clarity – and I promise we will answer them. Stay tuned for more information – it is coming!

And finally, so we don’t get too big for our britches, I enjoyed this retrospective on the dumbest moments in technology over the last year, 2018. There are a lot! I wonder if there are any that you agree with or have a different perspective on?

That is the way I see IT for January 27. Have a great and wintry week.

gg