The establishment of the new digital workplace environment helps VU Amsterdam to achieve its ambitions and keep pace with developments inside and outside the university. The principal ambitions and developments are set out in VU Amsterdam’s strategic plan, which defines the university's strategy for the period 2020-2025.
VU Amsterdam's strategy for the coming five years illustrates clearly that we live in a society in which primary processes are rapidly changing: processes and organizations are becoming increasingly international, diverse and digital. This has become even clearer in the changes we have experienced over the past several months as a result of the COVID pandemic. For the university this means increased competition from other bodies, including knowledge institutions, and qualification offerings (such as the awarding of online modular certificates). At the same time, we need to take account of new opportunities to foster connections and renewed responsibilities for society and the world. In order to adapt successfully to these changes, it is important, amongst other things, that VU Amsterdam becomes an agile organization equipped to meet the challenges of today's world, which supports collaboration and puts security high on its list of priorities.
Agility
An agile organization is essential to respond more effectively to national and international social developments. VU Amsterdam wants to be quick to adapt to changes and supporting new initiatives is a key element underpinning this drive. One of these preconditions is a stable and at the same time agile IT infrastructure and services.
The new digital workplace:
- uses cloud capabilities instead of local servers with fixed storage capacity. This allows us to enable and disable applications flexibly, handle data storage requirements and upgrade or downgrade capacity as needed;
- enhances work flexibility, because 1) you can access work from any location and any device, at any time, 2) you can customize your workspace to your preferences, 3) collaboration with external parties is made easier.
Digitization
Digitization is changing the form and content of teaching, research, healthcare and operations and demands a different way of thinking and working. Department IT provides VU Amsterdam with a smooth and secure infrastructure for students, professionals and individuals who are keen to pursue personal development.
IT:
- facilitates digital working and collaboration by providing a workplace that is independent of location, time and device;
- offers a digital meeting place for various kinds of collaboration, enabling you to chat, phone, meet and collaborate in documents in real time in a single environment.
Collaboration
Collaboration with international, national and regional partners is becoming increasingly important. These partners include universities as well as companies and other knowledge institutions. A digital landing place for meeting and sharing information easily is a prerequisite for this.
IT:
- connects people, disciplines and perspectives, even where people are not located in close proximity to one another. You can easily work on documents, share information and meet online with multiple people simultaneously;
- facilitates collaboration with external students, colleagues and bodies. You can easily share files while retaining control over the documents yourself. You can also designate non-VU members as guests and invite them to collaborate in the applications which you can access within Digital@VU.
Security
It is essential for the functioning of VU Amsterdam that a secure study, research and working environment should exist in all respects which, in the light of the other ambitions, also provides for the required openness and flexibility. Information security in relation to data and blocking of privacy-sensitive data is crucial to VU Amsterdam.
The new digital workplace:
- is Secure by Design, resulting in fully automated security processes: this benefits data security, allows you to manage your devices remotely and ensures automatic updates for applications to protect against current security risks;
- integrates choices from the organization with regard to data classification.
Sustainability
The challenging and far-reaching issues of our time call for sustainable solutions. Sustainability is therefore VU Amsterdam’s top priority. VU Amsterdam is making every effort to ensure that the life of the university, the community, staff and students is both sustainable and healthy. At the same time, we are focusing on the sustainable and efficient use of scarce resources. One element in this effort is reducing our environmental footprint.
The new digital workplace:
- contributes to a low paper environment by facilitating digital forms of assessment and enabling easy and secure document sharing;
- ensures that carbon-emitting travel will become nearly unnecessary by providing an optimum digital environment for easy and effective digital collaboration;
- provides the basis for the possibility of using ever 'thinner' devices which are more energy efficient due to the fact that applications and services run centrally rather than locally.