News & Events

January 25, 2022

Sign up for a Focus Group in February and Share your Digital Vision

Faculty, staff and students are invited to contribute ideas and feedback on current experiences with technology at UBC in a physical and virtual digital context. The 90-minute focus group(s) will include a brief overview of Digital UBC, followed by interactive exercises to explore areas that are critical to your success and would deliver the most value to you, and your digital vision and priorities for the university.

Register now (CWL required) to help shape the university's digital future. We want to hear all points of view and a diverse range of lived experiences, so please join us even if you don't feel well versed in the digital landscape.

January 5, 2022

What We're Learning from Initial Digital UBC Consultations

Digital UBC community consultations are well underway. We're grateful for the thoughtful and engaging virtual conversations we've had with our colleagues at UBCV and UBCO and the many ideas and perspectives provided to help shape UBC's digital strategy.

Since October 2021, the Digital UBC team has:

• conducted 25 1-1 interviews with UBC Executive, Deans and IT Advisory Council (ITAC) members;
• invited input from 120+ academic and administrative leaders at 5 facilitated, interactive workshops;
• hosted 210 staff at a townhall for IT professionals;
• received online feedback forms from faculty, staff and students

Generally speaking, participants indicated that good progress has been made over the last five years, especially in advanced research, enterprise systems renewal, governance, data management, privacy and security, and IT leadership. These advancements are referenced as contributing factors in the university and community's ability to quickly pivot in teaching, learning, and research at the onset of the pandemic. Also, people shared there is an enhanced community understanding of role and value of technology, and their trust in IT has strengthened during this time.

While there have been many achievements in recent years, we heard there is recognition of work ahead to fully operationalize Workday following its successful launch in 2020. Additionally, given the varying needs of the university, there is a natural tension between institution-wide and locally implemented solutions which present interoperability challenges, resulting in frustration with fragmentation.

Feedback from consultations highlighted the need to balance institutional agility, given the pace of change, with resourcing constraints, inequities in digital assets and accessibility across the UBC community and the demand for enhanced change management including communication and training with respect to technology and digital fluency.

There are many more opportunities to get involved at upcoming community consultations.

January 4, 2022

Start the New Year by Providing Feedback on UBC's Digital Future

The Digital UBC community survey is an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to share your experiences using technology at UBC today and perspectives on your priorities to help shape the digital future. Your ideas and input will be combined with voices from across the campus community to contribute to the development of UBC's first institution-wide digital strategy, and resulting roadmap. Take the survey now.

December 16, 2021

Digital UBC Townhall for IT Professionals

Today, over 200 IT professionals from across UBC joined a townhall meeting to get an introduction to Digital UBC and hear about the feedback and themes that have emerged from early community consultations. Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President Academic kicked-off the townhall with a virtual greeting and gratitude for the exceptional work of the IT community since the beginning of the pandemic. He framed Digital UBC and its importance in setting the stage to ensure that UBC has the technology it needs to meet its future aspirations to advance the university's Strategic Plan, Shaping the Next Century.

Dr. Murali Chandrashekaran, Vice-Provost, International and Fred H. Siller Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science from the Sauder School of Business delivered a thought-provoking presentation about the importance of considering the lens by which Digital Transformation is viewed i.e., post-digital, post-pandemic, post-colonial etc. He cited disruptions in value creation in the business world and how newcomers have upended established brands through digital transformation. He concluded with an overview of the 7S Imperatives of Digital Transformation and future possibilities and opportunities for the university to harness digital technologies.

IT staff in attendance were invited to participate in three live polls during the session to gauge their perceptions of UBC's current technology environment, their digital vision and where the university can improve. Following the townhall, the IT community received an online survey to provide additional input on Digital UBC. 

December 6, 2021

UBC's First Digital Strategy – Provide your Feedback

In order to meet the diverse technology needs at UBC, now and into the future, the university is developing its first-ever institution-wide digital strategy. The timing is ideal to assess how technology can enable and shape the university going forward to address fundamental changes in research, teaching and learning, and work practices. Faculty, student and staff perspectives on how the university can prioritize and connect these advances will define UBC over the next five to ten years, including important implications for access, equity, and sustainability. Provide your feedback now by completing this feedback form.

November 30, 2021

Academic and Administrative Leaders Come Together to Consider UBC's Digital Future

Today marked the start of a conversation with Associate Directors, Research, Associate Directors, Academic, Heads, Directors and administrative leaders from Vancouver and Okanagan campuses to contribute to the creation of UBC's first institution-wide digital strategy. In the coming weeks, five workshops are planned with breakout discussions focused on hearing from attendees on their sense of the current state of technology at UBC; the digital capabilities that are critical to help them achieve their individual and team strategies and objectives; and where technology can add the most value and impact for the university. Feedback gathered during these workshops will be combined with prior input from community consultations to shape the digital strategy to benefit faculty, students and staff.

October 2021

A Step-by-Step Approach to Digital UBC

Digital UBC is following a four-phase (preparation, discovery, development and alignment) process to allow time for broad community consultation with university leaders, students, faculty, and staff. The first phase (preparation) from September – October 2021 and is focused on forming Advisory Committees and a Working Group to develop a project plan, communications and engagement approach and to scope a research review of peer institutions. In phase 2, from November 2021 – January 2022, the priority is to conduct 1-1 interviews with key leadership groups and consultation with academics and administrators via interactive workshops to solicit input on digital priorities. From February to April 2022, the development phase, consultations will continue with focus groups, theme-based discussions and townhalls to build out the strategy framework and share emerging themes. Finally, in phase 4, Digital UBC will seek alignment by inviting campus community feedback on the draft strategy to enable refinement of the roadmap based on discussions with UBC executive, ITAC, and Advisory Committees.

September 2021

What a Digital Strategy is and is not...

Digital UBC will articulate a digital vision, strategy and roadmap for the university by engaging students, faculty and staff in a thoughtful process to understand their needs and priorities. As such, it's important to begin with an understanding of what a digital strategy is and is not. A digital strategy is people-centric as opposed to being solely technology-centric i.e., it's not an IT strategy recast as a digital strategy. While aspirational, a digital strategy is more action-oriented with clearly identified priorities of technology as an enabler. A digital strategy is not a static document revisited only every 3-5 years, but instead a living document, regularly reviewed, revised and agile in its structure to serve the evolving needs of the campus community.

August 2021

UBC Starts the Journey to Create its First Institution-wide Digital Strategy

Digital UBC was launched this month with the formation of an Advisory Committee comprised of leaders from across UBC and a Working Group under the guidance of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Once the scope and approach are determined, the Working Group will develop a project plan, identify milestones and create a communications and engagement strategy to involve the campus community in the development of the digital strategy. Beginning in September, 1-1 interviews will be scheduled with UBC executive, ITAC members and other key leaders to formalize the scope and project approach.;