New Deputy Director of IT: "We must earn the trust of the organisation"

As former head of IT operations in the Central Denmark Region, Peter Bruun Nielsen will be assuming responsibility for a broad and varied portfolio of activities when taking up his position as new Deputy Director of AU IT and Digital Media on 1 May 2015. Among the challenges at the top of his list is the need to strengthen relations between his administrative division and the rest of the organisation.

"I want our division to be the one to which everybody involved in IT-related projects automatically turns, and the organisation must feel completely confident about giving us responsibility for their projects. We must build confidence in our ability to deliver professional and flexible IT services to the university so that we can create the best possible conditions for the academic environments to deliver education and research of the highest quality," says Peter Bruun Nielsen.

He admits in the same breath that striking the right balance between quality, efficiency and flexibility is sometimes difficult. However, he is excited about establishing a framework for the administrative division which will allow IT staff members to respond swiftly to the needs of the organisation and supply flexible and functional solutions.

Staff to be involved in strategy

For Peter Bruun Nielsen, it is crucial that the many tasks small and large performed by IT staff members are aligned with and supportive of a visionary digitisation strategy for Aarhus University. He will be looking at this in close cooperation with the staff of the administrative division and the rest of the organisation as he is a firm believer in involvement and dialogue.

"We need to reconcile our expectations with regard to our digitisation strategy so that the university is quite clear about where we are heading IT-wise, and so that we are quite clear about what the university wants from us. I believe in being systematic and in following up on our plans, so as to be able to document that we are in fact meeting the targets which have been set. However, deciding a strategy for the area must not only be a matter for the management. It is important that we foster a culture in which employees from all levels of the organisation have a chance to contribute their knowledge, expertise and skills, thereby ensuring a strong sense of ownership, as otherwise the strategy is bound to fail," says Peter Bruun Nielsen.

He therefore intends to take himself on a tour of the university to guarantee the best possible kick-off for an ongoing dialogue aimed at identifying the digitisation strategy which will add the greatest possible value to the university in the short and long term. And he sees great potential in strengthening the dialogue between AU IT and Digital Media and those of the university's research and educational environments which are concerned with IT.

"Where other IT departments must seek guidance from external consultants on how to work most innovatively with IT and ensure that IT adds the greatest possible value for their organisation, at AU IT and Digital Media we can access the hugest pool of knowledge in the field by listening to and being inspired by our academic colleagues at the departments of Computer Science and Information Studies, at Aarhus University School of Engineering, at the Department of Anthropology and in all the many other fields of research working with IT. We must make the most of this competitive advantage to create the best possible IT solutions for staff and students at the best university in Denmark."

Stable operations key to development

One of the issues which must be addressed by the university's digitisation strategy is the balance between operations and development. Thousands of people on and off the university's campuses are dependent on the university's IT systems. Consequently, ensuring operational stability is a top priority for the new deputy director, who sees it as a springboard for development and innovation in the IT area.

"It is extremely important that the systems are running smoothly at all times. If they don't, nothing else really matters very much. So one of the principal tasks for IT is ensuring stable operations, specifically tailored to the needs of the organisation. Once this is in place, we can free up resources for development and innovation, which, of course, is where we can start making a real difference. Operations must never be neglected, but at the same time they should be sufficiently well organised so as not to steal resources from development activities," says Peter Bruun Nielsen.

Moreover, he sees a great need for heightening the level of information and interest in the university's many IT initiatives, both operational and developmental, to ensure that both existing solutions and new ideas are more firmly rooted.

"Often, the only people who take an interest in IT are the organisation's IT staff – except, of course, when there is a problem, then you are sure to hear about it. And I am used to taking a fair bit of flack. My view is that we need to work our way out of the problems. Anything which isn't working as it should must be fixed, while the solutions that are actually working quite well must be used more extensively in the rest of organisation. And then we must also look ahead and be ready to address any future challenges," says Peter Bruun Nielsen.

Myths about the administration must be laid to rest

In addition to giving IT a boost, Peter Bruun Nielsen is also hoping that, as a member of the administration’s senior management group, he will be able to help alleviate the scepticism which sometimes surrounds the administration.

"I sense that the administration has recently been at the receiving end of a certain amount of criticism. This must change, and the way of going about it is by taking a critical look at whether we are delivering what the university needs and by demonstrating to the academic environments that having a central administration actually makes a lot of sense. I look forward to addressing this issue together with the rest of the management of the administration," he says and continues:

"The central administration is here for the university's sake, and this is something which we do and must bear in mind at all times. However, we also need to lay to rest some of the myths which exist about the administration."