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Office of the AVP & CTO

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

AVP & CTO update, January 11, 2021

For many, today is the first day back to the virtual office, and of course for our students it is the first day of classes. It all starts now for 2021!

I am excited to be kicking off a new year and saying farewell to 2020. The world around us isn’t quite ‘righted’ yet, however at McMaster we will continue to do what we do so well: working together to successfully take on challenges within our control and connecting and supporting each other as we take each day at a time. Please do your best to hold onto that holiday feeling of refresh and peace as you approach each day. I know for many there are new challenges with our lockdown environment. Let’s all continue our practice of empathy, kindness and support for each other.

What does 2021 have in store for the McMaster IT community? A great deal! We are entering into the third year of the McMaster IT Strategic Plan, continuing to deliver on initiatives such as the CRM, the wireless enhancement project (remember that?!), the continued rollout of Microsoft 365 and our new cellular plan. In addition, new projects have been recently endorsed, like the AODA web compliance roadmap, and more are advancing through IT governance this month including the web strategy and Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). And new initiatives are just taking shape, including Data Governance and Document Management. The IT Forum is being planned for February and it will offer a timely opportunity to look forward to what is unfolding under the McMaster IT Strategic Plan.
 
The IT Forum will also provide an opportunity to reflect on your many successes over the past year. We want to ensure we can tell your stories and celebrate your achievements. The act of celebrating success is often seen as unnecessary when there is still so much to do, however there are many benefits to taking time to recognize accomplishments. At minimum, it explains where your time and effort have gone, at maximum it can build confidence and momentum to take on the next opportunity. And it builds community and connection as we share in each other’s accomplishments. Early into a new year is the perfect time to engage in celebration, so please do share your successes with us so we can highlight them leading up to and as part of our IT Forum activities.
 

As we look to the future, I wonder if any of you developed intentions for this year around mindfulness, or a renewed focus on being outdoors, or cutting down on chocolate (or eating more!)? If so, I would be interested to know. If you want to participate in my ‘hallway conversations’ we can talk about it in detail! You can connect with our Manager Communications and Culture, Tanya Reid (reidt10@mcmaster.ca) to schedule a conversation. I will begin sharing these conversations towards the end of this month on the CTO website. 

As for my own personal intentions, over the last month and into this new year, I have begun a practice of daily meditation at the start of the day, for up to 20 minutes. Starting the day with a focus on breath is a path towards enhancing my concentration skills – who doesn’t need that in a world like the one we find ourselves in? And it gets me off to a calm start. In addition, I am going to try some new approaches to old habits. One example is that I am working on a new format for my updates. You can see what I have in mind when I send out my next one! Stay tuned!

 
Have a great day and week. I am looking forward to connecting with all of you soon.
 gg's blog