About
The Information and Digital Group
“We aim to be the most digitally enabled university in the UK and to be seen as a global trailblazer when it comes to digital teaching and learning."
The background
In April 2020, Tony Pauley was appointed as Warwick’s first Chief Information & Digital Officer, with a brief to execute the ICO Action Plan, to lead the Security and Information Management change programme and to enable Digital Transformation at Warwick in line with the University's 2030 Strategy.
Coinciding with other changes to existing Professional Services structures, this resulted in the creation of the Information & Digital Group (IDG).
The IDG brings together IT Services, the Library, Strategic Planning and Analytics (SPA), the SPI team and the Information Security and Management teams - with the exception of the team supporting the Data Protection Officer, Rachel Gower and her Legal and Compliance Services team.
The Strategy
The IDG teams will be focused to deliver on the CIDO’s original brief and enable the University’s 2030 vision. This requires a significant programme of work – which is broken down into three overlapping phases:
- Stabilisation
Ensuring we are managing and reducing security, compliance and operational risks.
- Foundation building
Establishing the groundwork to deliver operational mobility, integration, standardisation and efficiency.
- Transformation
Enabling a ‘Digital campus’ to optimise digital and traditional research and teaching capabilities.
We have made key new appointments:
- James Alexander has become Deputy-CITO, in addition to Director of Strategic Change
- Geraint Llewelyn has become Director of IT
- DesButcher is Director of Enterprise Applications and Dean Hughes is now Director of Enterprise Infrastructure, bot reporting into Geraint.
These roles have been confirmed to work across and with our University community to deliver secure technology change programmes and make all engagement with IT as smooth as possible.
Digital change is inevitable – with tighter controls and greater regulation expected within organisations worldwide. All IDG Directors will focus on finding common ground, understanding departments’ needs and objectives and helping to navigate any barriers.
Focusing on our current priorities:
- Training and awareness
- Device and infrastructure security and management
- Building closer working relationships
You can read more about our work in IDG's 2021 technology strategy document and how we are delivering on these priorities here: Enabling Excellence IDG Strategy May 2021Link opens in a new window
What is the Security & Information Management Programme?
An institution-wide information management and security programme is underway to help all staff and students work more securely with information and data. Find out more about what’s happening and what it will mean for you, your colleagues and team.
Why is this important?
The information the University creates and manages needs to be kept secure, accurately managed and available to the right people at the right time. Most of us handle sensitive and confidential, personal and professional information at some time or another and use a range of different IT devices and systems to do so.
As a result of our own analysis, the ICO audit, and ever-increasing risk of cyber threats, we know we must improve our information management, governance and security across the board. We need to be more stringent about the standards applied to computers and devices that access our network to avoid data loss, business interruption or reputational damage.
Our personal and professional information and assets are fundamental to our work, our value and our reputation as an institution. Our University-wide data security and information management programme is designed to help us all improve our ways of working. It is a positive investment to ensure the security of our intellectual property, research, management, teaching and learning.
We have a great programme team in place, including our own world-leading professional and academic experts in information management and cyber security and highly skilled colleagues from across the institution. We have a robust plan of governance and process works that will enable us to implement changes, make progress, innovate and collaborate more securely.
The Programme will set clear, measurable milestones and targets to ensure that we are addressing the risks that have been identified by us and in the recent ICO audit. These targets will be closely monitored and reported to the University Executive Board via two newly-established, institution-wide, University information management committees, UIMC and UIMEC.
Key aims:
- Protecting our information assets
- Safeguarding our staff, students and wider community
- Securing our strategic objectives and reputation
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
Our Programme consists of a series of essential work streams planned over the next few months which will be undertaken step-by-step and with great care to make sure we achieve better operating standards while maintaining the full functionality of all our systems. We’ll need your understanding and help to do this, and to achieve the sector-leading position on information security that we all want for Warwick.
Am I involved?
This Programme will involve us all. If you use a Warwick staff card, a Warwick email address, access one of our staff or student record systems or share your Warwick work with colleagues within or beyond the University, you are involved in activities that carry risks in data security. We will be working across all groups and departments in the University to ensure that everyone is aware of what we have to do differently to reduce these risks to an acceptable level. In the current situation, our colleagues in ITS have already gathered together key guidance on working safely from home here.
Our plans and the work that flows from them will need everyone’s commitment and action – especially as some measures will involve laws we have to follow. There will be lots of guidance and help available, with training and support and expert assistance, but the new standards of security must be adopted and those who consistently fail to do so may find themselves excluded from our systems.
Information on further activities, support and progress will shared in the coming weeks.
Information and guidance
- Please read and follow our regular communications and key security advice
- Read and share these ten key points to ensure you are working as securely as possible.
Security & Information Management is Everyone's Responsibility
Help and support
If you think you detect any unusual online activity, please report it immediately.
Who needs to know this?
This information concerns us all. If you use a Warwick staff card, a Warwick email address, access one of our staff or student record systems or share your Warwick work with colleagues within or beyond the University, you are involved in activities that must be kept secure.
Data Protection Officer
infocompliance@warwick.ac.ukThe University of Warwick
University House
Coventry CV4 8UW