Friday, November 22, 2024

Ongoing progress is being made on the University of Georgia’s IT strategic goals with initiatives in place to implement improvements in next-generation teaching and learning, student digital life experiences, and research computing and data management, Dr. Timothy M. Chester said during his annual State of Technology address.

Chester, vice president for information technology at UGA, also spoke about the process for implementing the University System of Georgia’s new unified enterprise resource planning system and the results of the 2024 TechQual survey during his address to approximately 400 people over Teams on Nov. 20.

“I think it’s important to recognize that our faculty, students, and staff have very strong, positive assessments of the technology that we provide them here at the University of Georgia,” Chester said.

In the TechQual survey, which measures satisfaction with central IT services on campus, The EITS Help Desk, Zoom, and UGAMail continued to rank highly among UGA students, faculty, and staff. The overall opinion of central IT services also continues to rise, as EITS works to improve services based on feedback from the university community.

Chester, who also serves as the vice chancellor and chief information officer of the University System, discussed the future of the new unified ERP system, Workday, which will begin implementation in 2026 and will be fully rolled out in 2028. This new system will bring finance, human resources, and payroll to all 26 USG institutions into a single, cloud-native environment. Decisions are still being made on how to proceed with the student information system.

Other EITS key initiatives for 2025 include:

• AI: UGA is all in regarding game-changing AI, Chester said, with $8 million invested in high-performance computing (HPC) resources and supporting infrastructure. EITS is also considering targeted investments in everyday AI, including Office 365 Copilot trials. EITS is also looking long-term, with a greater need for power to support increased HPC capacity.
• Data and Analytics: Key factors such as data storage and access, customization and reporting, integration approaches, and data security and compliance will be evaluated by the Office of Institutional Research during the implementation of the new ERP system, Workday.
• Information Security: EITS continues to reduce configuration risks associated with UGA-wide Active Directory use.
• Telecommunications Redundancy: EITS is examining needs and methods to increase wired and wireless redundancy for “Black Swan-like events” such as Hurricane Helene, Chester said.
• Disaster Recovery and Planning: EITS is working to prepare for atypical disasters not necessarily perceived as high risk.