Top 5 Issues for Presidents and CAOs in 2009

The top five translational technology issues Presidents and Chief Academic Officers will pay attention to in 2009:

1. Funding issues will top the list for many reasons, the greatest being all revenue sources will be at their lowest point in years and relief is not in sight. State funding is being slashed, endowments are low, and student financial aid is problematic. The funding issues will cause the Office of the President to consider reducing expenses in all areas; one area of interest will be technology. A new funding model will emerge.

2. Chief Information Officers will be asked to consider new ways of doing business. Many universities will follow the University of Washington and sharply cut technology development budgets expecting the CIO to find the resources needed in the Web 2.0 world rather than developing specialty software applications on campus.

3. Presidents (CAOs) will finally ask hard questions about the university technology organization. Duplication of staff will be of primary interest. The questions will be a result of financial pressures, but will also have momentum from projects other universities are undertaking. An example of this will be the question: “Why are we still buying hardware and software to provide student email?”

4. Presidents (CAOs) will evaluate where the CIO should report in the organization. In recent years the CIO has moved from the President’s cabinet to the Chief Financial Officer or the Provost. The trend will not subside and a greater number of CIOs will not report directly to the President.

5. Consumerization of the campus technology infrastructure will become important as students and faculty request equipment such as the iPhone to be connected to the university's administrative and academic applications . CIOs will be expected to address integration of consumer products into the campus enterprise architecture.