The Connected Life

Friday, November 06, 2009

by Ron Kraemer

Last week I attended a meeting of 75 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from major universities, businesses and organizations from around the world. It was a diverse group including CIOs from places like Oxford, the National Basketball Association, Microsoft, the Department of the Army, and Harrah’s Gaming.

The diversity was interesting, but what really left an impression on me was our consensus that we all face common challenges and opportunities. The number one topic was the recent recession and how the world will forever be changed. The economy will not come back in the format we saw before. Business models will change, organizational structures will change and how organizations apply information technology (IT) will more than ever influence which organizations will be successful.

There is a “new normal.” The role of IT is changing from an enabler of innovation to something that is so deeply embedded it is difficult to distinguish it as something independent of our teaching, research and business processes. In many organizations, IT has gone from being the enabling strategy to being the strategy.

One of the cornerstones of this strategy will be how we apply social networking tools and services. Social networking is normal for our students. The business world has started to use these tools too. Many of the CIOs I talked with say something similar - We need take the collaboration approach our young people invented and put strategy and discipline behind it – that’s how organizations will become most successful.

Social networking technologies are growing at an incredible rate.  Facebook now has 300 million active members that spend 6 billion minutes per day using it.  LinkedIn and Twitter each have more than 50 million members. The first wave of the Internet was about content. The current phase is about connectedness and social networking, whether for business, learning, or recreation.  How do we help our students transform themselves from casual users of social technologies to masters of applying collaboration tools and strategies as they pursue careers in the new global economy?

My guess is all of us will be learning as we go.

Demonstrating our commitment

Friday, October 09, 2009

by Ron Kraemer

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend parts of the UW-Madison Diversity Forum yesterday.  Vice Provost Damon Williams and Chancellor Martin gave thought-provoking talks, and other speakers helped us think about things that we should all be thinking about more. My favorite part was listening to Dr. Christopher Metzler from Georgetown University. His perspectives will help all of us stretch ourselves a little more as we work to further embrace diversity and inclusiveness on our campus and in our community.

One of the things that stuck with me most from Dr. Metzler’s talk was this.  We can all say that we are committed to diversity and inclusion, but what are we doing to demonstrate our commitment. As I thought about this, I started to imagine how this approach could be applied across our mission.  “Demonstration” of commitment is a very powerful concept.  It strikes up images of holding others and ourselves accountable, being relentless in our beliefs and actions, and being open to new ideas and concepts. So how can this be applied to other areas of service in our university community?

I have been spending considerable time lately about our commitment to safeguarding personal information on campus – October is Cyber Security Month.  We all say we are committed to security, but what is each of us doing to demonstrate that commitment.  We can all start by doing a few little things.  Make sure your virus protection software and firewalls are up to date.  Use strong passwords. Ask your IT professional about your department’s security set up. Delete data you do not need.  If you are a manager, understand the data the people that work for you have on their servers, desktops and laptops.  Encourage your staff to care for the data entrusted to them.

 I trust we all have some commitment to security.  Now let’s take it to the next level and demonstrate that commitment.

 Thanks to Vice Provost Williams for a wonderful event and thanks to those that helped us all think a little bit more about so many challenges we face.

Cyber Security Awareness Month

Friday, October 02, 2009

by Ron Kraemer

Identity theft remains one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Every minute of every day, nefarious people and organizations around the world are scouring the Internet to gain control over computers or find personal data that they can sell to the highest bidder.

October is “National Cyber Security Awareness Month” and a great time for each of us to increase our awareness of the online risks we face and the steps we can take to reduce those risks.

High-value data about each of us is stored on computers across the globe. In recent years, this has become complicated by the growing mobility of computers and communications. A few years ago, our Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and banking information generally resided on central corporate or government systems. Today, that same data is also on our cellphones, laptops, flash drives and other highly portable devices. We also stay much more connected today through wireless networks at work, home, and everywhere we travel.

Cyber-criminals are well aware of our habits, our practices and the extent to which we are going (or not going) to protect our personal data, and they stand ready to take advantage of any openings we create.

Each of us can do two simple things to improve security:

1. Take the time to learn how to protect your own personal data. Make sure you run virus protection software. Be careful not to open emails that seem suspicious and don’t visit high-risk Web sites. If you participate on social networking sites, think twice before disclosing too much personal information and know who can access your sites.
2. Take seriously your responsibility to protect personal data entrusted to you. None of us should retain high-value personal data on our computers (e.g., social security numbers, banking or credit card numbers, passwords). If you store such personal data on your computer or mobile devices, either delete it or protect it.

There are no guarantees that our data will always be safe, but taking a few simple steps can help us protect ourselves. Take some time this month to learn more about cyber-security. For more information, please visit www.cio.wisc.edu/security/