Digital transformation is a term we are hearing more and more, especially in the public sector, as the government pushes for greater efficiencies for less money, something they believe digital solutions will help with. However, digital transformation can feel like you are treading through murky waters, happy that your heads are above the water, yet you have an unshakeable fear of what surprises are lurking in the depths.
While many organisations have this fear of the unknown, they continue to embark upon the journey that offers them a bounty of new opportunities. However, laying the correct foundations is key for this journey, as the better the foundations, the less surprises that are likely to come their way. Getting these foundations in place takes work, something many universities have been doing for years now, paving the way for a smoother transition over to digital technologies, allowing them to harness the potential opportunities much quicker.
At the end of September, we will attending UCISA IG18 for the first time, which over the two days it is running, will be looking at the changing infrastructure in educational establishments, and how cloud based infrastructures are setting these establishments up to go fully digital. The conference is also going to be hosting a plethora of speakers from trailblazing educational establishments who can share their experience and advice. One of the topics being discussed will be achieving a digital campus, where students can do any task online, whether it is through recognised platforms such as Microsoft’s O365 or other more bespoke solutions.
However, if a digital campus is going to be realised, surely the senior leadership team and board of directors overseeing this vision should also be using digital solutions, not only to lead by example, but also improve operations and the ease with which tasks are completed. For this very reason, we will be demonstrating our online board portal—BoardPacks—a solution that is built to improve the way your organisation is run, starting at the very top. It offers a digital environment that builds upon best practice and helps to champion good decision making and planning based on the right information. Digital transformation requires everyone to be on board to make it work, especially the board members and staff implementing it, so making sure it is planned and monitored correctly is essential.
We understand that the adoption of technology doesn’t happen overnight, however using digital technology at the top of the organisation is one large step in the journey to a completely digital campus. Nonetheless, there is more to it than just rolling out technologies expecting students and staff to use it. It requires effective planning and risk management as implementing technologies is not cheap. It is important to ensure that you have a well supported technology solution with training and a solid support service. For digital solutions used by the board and other senior leadership, this needs to be a 24/7 support so whatever time of day and wherever they are, they can access the information they need. The BoardPacks on-boarding programme provides training and support for the administrators and the users.
BoardPacks puts the right information in front of board members at the right time. Features such as the ability to make annotations and notes against documents and agendas help to create an environment conducive to constructive discussion and improved collaboration. Our risk heatmap helps board members manage the risks associated with a tricky project such a trying to digital enable a whole campus, who will have a multitude of demographics across several locations. As a project of this nature will constantly develop, BoardPacks also enables you to make last minute changes to the agenda and associated documents without losing any of your previous notes. Ultimately, this will help you stay on top no matter the circumstance.
If you would like to see how these features work, or hear how our BoardPacks solution can improve your operations and digital transformation journey, please come visit us at Stand 16 where we will also be running our famous Lego Star Wars prize. UCISA IG18 is being hosted at Crewe Hall from 27-28th September, we look forward to seeing you there. If you are not attending the event and would like to see the benefits can BoardPacks can offer first hand, you can contact us here.
