2020 Top 10 IT Issues

The Drive to Digital Transformation Begins | EDUCAUSE Review Special Report

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Credit: Brian Stauffer © 2020

Colleges and universities are working to unmake old practices and structures that have become inefficient and are preparing to use technology and data to better understand and support students and to become more student-centric.

They are working to fund technology and to sustainably manage and secure data and privacy. Higher education institutions are applying data and technology to innovate student outcomes and experiences.

The role of the CIO is undergoing its own transformation in order to advance institutional priorities through the use of technology.

The focus in 2020, then, is to simplify, sustain, innovate, and drive to Dx in all of our institutions and places of higher learning.

 

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Figure 1: The Top 10 IT Issues: Four Themes. Simplify: #4 Digital Integrations, #9 Administrative Simplification. Sustain: #1 Information Security Strategy, #2 Privacy, #3 Sustainable Funding, #8 Higher Education Affordability. Innovate: #5 Student-Centric Higher Education, #6 Student Retention and Completion, #7 Improved Enrollment. Drive to DX: #10 The Integrative CIO

 

The Importance of the Integrative CIO

"2020's Top 10 IT issues focus on digital transformation as the engine to accelerate higher education's ability to address student success, affordability, enrollment, and the other challenges and opportunities we're facing. An "integrative CIO" can help the institution develop its digital strategy. That strategy will entail simplifying experiences and infrastructure, developing processes and policies for financial and data sustainability (including security and privacy), and using technology to deliver innovative solutions to student success, enrollment, and the entire student experience."

—Susan Grajek, Vice President, Communities and Research, EDUCAUSE

 

A Quick Visual Tour

View the video summary before taking a deeper dive into the many resources available (see sidebar for more!).

 

 

Infographic

Download the Road to Digital Transformation infographic now.

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How the Top 10 IT Issues Are Selected

A list of twenty issues—developed by an expert panel composed of IT and non-IT leaders, CIOs, and faculty members—is voted on by EDUCAUSE members in an annual survey. The resulting Top 10 Issues list is thus created by the community for the community, identifying what's important and where to focus.