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Monday, 5 October 2015

Information Technology – computers, networks, funny-looking cables, machines that go “ping”; what was once only found in dimly-lit laboratories and enthusiast garages is now commonplace in everything we do. For Assine George, the university’s Chief Information Officer, the opportunity to transform the way UWA provides IT services is both a challenging and engaging one.

Assine joined UWA in September last year, and has since been instrumental in developing a strategy around how the IT landscape can be improved to better cater to the needs of the University.

"Change, and challenging the way things are – it's certainly a running theme in my life,” Assine says. “I grew up in Lebanon – at the time, a woman having a professional career was far from the norm – and even less so in a male-dominated field like IT”.

Assine’s professional career has taken her from the US, to Asia, and finally to Australia.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work in places with very different cultures – the chance to see the differences and similarities in the way people work together the world over is very enlightening,” she said.

“IT intrigues me, too – I’m curious by nature, and IT is always changing, always evolving.  The Transformation process holds a similar interest for me, technology creates the opportunity to challenge how things have been done in the past, and to make fundamental improvements that benefit everyone."

Assine is quick to point out that the transformation journey isn’t always an easy one.

“I’ve been fortunate to have led a number of transformations in various industries – from finance, manufacturing, through to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – there’s always ups and downs, but the common theme in a successful transformation initiative is collective contribution, which leads to collective success. You can’t come up with a solution in isolation, you have to engage with all areas of the organisation to ensure that you get the full picture.”

“I encourage everyone to get involved and provide feedback throughout this process – we can only succeed with contributions from all areas of the University. We are listening to our staff, students and the wider University community – IT moves at a rapid pace, and we need to be flexible if we are to continually meet the expectations of our users,” said Assine. “We don’t want IT to be a roadblock; we need to work with all areas of the University to understand their needs, and implement solutions that allow our users to derive benefits.”

“We also have the opportunity to assist in connecting different areas of the University together, as IT sits at the intersection of so many services and initiatives,” she said. “Right now, a researcher in the Faculty of Science might be looking for a software solution that displays datasets in a certain way, but there’s no robust end-to-end process or communication channel that allows them to find out if a solution like that is already being used at the University.”

In September’s Open Forum, Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson commented that “The University historically had a view that IT was one of those additional things we do, but actually, IT is fundamental – it’s as fundamental as the buildings. We can’t run the University, we can’t do our jobs without good IT support – it’s now part of the core infrastructure of the University”.

Assine followed this up with a presentation on the IT Transformation Program, which can be viewed on the Sustainable Futures website.

“We have a real opportunity here to be the integrator that links the entire University; divisions, faculties, and individuals, so that they can continue to deliver world-class outcomes, whether they be in the areas of teaching and learning, research, professional services, or community engagement,” she said.

Assine has settled in to the University culture but stress that regardless of where she works, there are some things she can’t do without.

"I need space and light, and I like to surround myself with colour, to the point where I’ve named our project teams Pink, Yellow and Blue. A triple-shot of black coffee in the morning doesn’t hurt either!”

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