By Van Williams. Hello to the UC Tech community! I am thrilled to be the University of California’s new Vice President for Information Technology Services. I am intensely passionate about the roles that both technology and higher education play in the lives of individuals, society, and business. In my life, they have provided me with a network of friends, mentors, and colleagues who have shaped my life and changed my

By the UC Campus Privacy Officials. Privacy advocates encourage bringing privacy awareness into the higher ed classroom. Privacy is, after all, an interdisciplinary affair, and it impacts everyone. One simple way of introducing the privacy dialogue into the classroom is to develop a privacy statement for your course syllabus. As faculty and instructors finalize their syllabi for the new term, they can consider adding a statement explaining expectations and obligations

UC President Michael V. Drake was the featured speaker in last week’s UC IT Town Hall. Over 700 people joined remotely from across the UC system. UC Davis CIO Viji Murali and UC CIO Van Williams moderated the event. President Drake welcomed Van Williams as new UC CIO, spoke about the future of IT at UC, and answered pre-submitted questions. If you didn’t get the chance to watch the town

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is now Cyber Security Awareness Month (CSAM). CSAM is observed every October, with the goal of raising awareness about the importance of cybersecurity across the nation. UC is a proud sponsor of CSAM. This year’s theme is “Do your Part. #BeCyberSmart.” The UC Systemwide Cyber Champions have created a calendar of events with the goal of promoting resources and keeping everyone safe online. Be sure

When Research Safety Services at UC Irvine evaluated their safety program, several gaps were found in lab safety which were hindering their safety goals. The database for lab inspections and findings was outdated with low tech reporting capabilities, and pulling reports was a labor intensive process that made it difficult to track open findings. A lack of clear processes such as a loosely defined escalation procedure created inconsistencies when

The 12th Biannual Cyber Security Summit is Thursday, October 13, 2021. Register now to enjoy a full day of discussion, information, games, and insights about cybersecurity and cyber-risk management, plus plenty of opportunities to network with peers from the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges. The summit will feature UC leaders, along with industry experts: Director of Cybersecurity Eva Galperin, Electronic Frontier Foundation New York

Learn about privacy laws and how to best protect yourself at the Privacy 101 Online Webinar, presented by the UC San Diego Campus Privacy Office, on September 28, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Register now! This event is open to the public and all who are interested. The Privacy 101 Workshop will focus on privacy issues and best methods to protect personal data. Other topics to be discussed include recently-enacted

By Jim Phillips. UC Santa Cruz recently hired its first chief experience officer (CXO) in the IT department—Phyllis Treige. This new role is a key component of Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Van Williams’s vision for digital transformation. While the idea of integrating user experience into an IT organization is still fairly novel in higher education, in the corporate world it has been critical in helping organizations become more agile

Summer may be coming to an end, but the memories will last a lifetime. Thanks to the UC IT community members who sent in photos. Here are some of the best! Anna Gazdowicz, UC Berkeley Rajesh Sharma, UCOP Rajesh Sharma, UCOP Janene Dennis, UC Davis Rita Rosenthal, UC Berkeley Heloisa Kinder, UC Davis Jeané Blunt, UCOP

By James Badham. Fifteen years ago, UC Santa Barbara electrical and materials professor John Bowers pioneered a method for integrating a laser onto a silicon wafer. The technology has since been widely deployed in combination with other silicon photonics devices to replace the copper-wire interconnects that formerly linked servers at data centers, dramatically increasing energy efficiency — an important endeavor at a time when data traffic is growing by roughly