A human-focused digital strategy

Imagine if your day-to-day tasks at the University of Manitoba became more intuitive and efficient. That’s the future we’re striving to build as part of our digital strategy.

While our digital strategy involves technology, our focus remains decidedly human—we’re determined to improve the daily experiences of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

To make this happen, we focus on three key areas:

• Deeply understanding the people who will use our digital tools. We’re not simply digitizing existing processes—we’re reimagining them from the ground up. This involves talking to users and designing solutions that truly fit their needs.
• Smart and efficient resource management. We quickly build basic versions of our solutions that address the community’s needs, and then refine these solutions based on real-world usage and feedback. This iterative approach helps us to build better tools and get them out faster.
• Flexibility. We recognize that technology doesn’t stand still, and neither can we. We’re ready to change our plans when needed, keeping pace with new developments, all while making sure we protect your privacy and security.

Throughout our progress in these key areas, we’ve been inspired by the community’s enthusiasm. Staff, faculty and students are contributing ideas and feedback, making sure our tools are useful and user-friendly.

So far, we’ve launched a new content management system for our websites and a new Intranet site. We’ve also navigated the challenges of the pandemic, implementing digital tools that enhanced remote work, learning and student engagement.

Currently, we’re working to enhance the blocks and functionality of the website, including improving search to make it easier for users to find the information they need.

This is just the beginning of our journey.

To help guide our strategy, we’ve created a digital steering committee. It includes sub-committees focused on various aspects of university life.

Here are some opportunities our sub-committees are exploring:

Data and infrastructure

• Upgrading computing power for research.
• Enhancing communication between IST and campus.
• Making tech tools accessible for teaching and learning.

Learning, teaching, and student support:

• Improving the course registration process.
• Providing faculty with “plug-and-play” technology that works instantly in any classroom.

Content and communications

• Concentrating on user journey maps to suggest enhancements for our existing digital tools, including the websites, UM Intranet and emerging tools.
• Pinpointing areas of improvement and uncovering new opportunities to enhance communication with UM’s diverse audiences.

HR and daily work

• Introducing more automation to VIP/Employee Self-Service, which will streamline payroll tasks for staff.

In short, our digital strategy is much more than the adoption of technology—it’s a comprehensive approach to enhance UM as an innovative and supportive place to learn, teach and work.

Faculty and staff who are interested in engaging in discussions about digital best practices, technology and trends are invited to join the Digital Community of Practice.

Spenser Smith