IT as an enabler across the organization
The IT operations are meant to support the university's ambitions to be an open, knowledge-seeking, and socially conscious actor and to be a comprehensive university that conducts research and provides higher education at a high international level. The university's robust IT infrastructure and IT services are essential contributions to achieving this goal.
The master plan includes recommendations for strategic directions, priorities, and measures regarding IT infrastructure and shared IT services, IT in research, IT in education, and administrative IT, as well as the university's involvement in shared services and collaborative initiatives concerning IT and digitalization in the higher education sector (UH sector) in the coming years. The plan aims to strengthen and further develop the IT operations in line with changes in the needs of users and the institution.
→ Read the Master Plan for the university's IT as presented to the university board (Norwegian only)
Well received
The master plan is a strategic document that provides direction for the use of and investments in IT at UiO in the period ahead. The draft master plan has been reviewed by faculties and units, and the responses showed broad support for the focus areas.
There has been great interest in the plan, and it was therefore also adopted by the university board. The board was very pleased with the plan and the fact that it demonstrates that UiO has a highly competent IT department with a good direction for its work. IT Director Gard Thomassen presented the plan to the board.
Digital independence and AI on our own infrastructure
A main initiative is to continue the focus on sovereign IT, investing in in-house competence, stronger control over its own data, and less dependence on commercial cloud services. Data should be, as far as possible, produced and stored in self-controlled solutions, and from there made available to other services, to reduce the risk of vendor lock-in and ensure long-term flexibility.
The plan also highlights the need to use UiO's own data to train and adapt AI solutions to the university's needs, and to build competence in AI among students, researchers, administrative staff, and leaders.
Research, education and administrative time thieves
For research, UiO will further develop platforms such as Services for Sensitive Data (TSD) and Educloud, simplify the access to national and international computing resources, and continue an entry service similar to the current Fox solution for high-performance computing within the Educloud infrastructure.
The master plan also emphasizes strengthening researchers' general and discipline-specific IT competence.
In education and studies, the recommendations in Digitalt l?ringsmilj? 2030 will be followed up to make the digital learning environment more structured and standardized, with Canvas as the learning platform and new solutions for plagiarism control and digital examinations. There will also be continued investment in Mine studier, a very popular tool and app that provides students with a unified overview of everything related to their studies.
On the administrative side, a clear goal is to reduce time thieves through better user experience, standardization, and increased automation.
Tighter finances and strong presence in the sector
The master plan is based on tighter financial frameworks and the need for a more sustainable funding model for IT. This involves clarifying what should be included in a common "IT basic package" for all users and shifting strategic funds from purely project-based funding to cover lifecycle costs, including operations and management. A long-term investment plan for basic IT infrastructure at UiO will be established.
At the same time, UiO will continue to be an important player in the development of shared services and collaboration in the higher education sector, including through Sikt, but with a clear emphasis on the institutions' autonomy and the limitation of which shared services should be mandatory.
About the Master Plan
The master plan has been developed by a broadly composed working group.
Chair: Anne Julie Semb, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences
Members:
- Anders Malthe-S?renssen, Professor, Center for Computing in Science Education (CCSE), Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
- Jo Thori Lind, Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences
- Arnt Maas?, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication, Faculty of Humanities
- Thomas Bjella, Senior Engineer, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Kristin Skar, Chief Engineer and Head of the IT Section at the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
- Astrid Aksness?ther, Administration Manager, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Sigve N?ss R?tvold, Student Parliament
- The IT department served as secretariat for the working group?
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