Our Data Strategy

Action 1: Establish a systemwide Data Office and provide the appropriate resources at each organization for data services/education

• Establish the systemwide data officer role by allocating funding and recruiting for the role (needs to report to EVP or CFO).
• Working with constituents across the system, the systemwide data officer will develop and maintain a persistent roadmap for implementation and support of data strategy recommendations.
• Hire System Office Project Manager to assist with Data Strategy initiative, especially coordinating core data model work.
• Work with a systemwide body such as the System Executive Risk Management Council or their delegates to prioritize areas to target with the data strategy plan including funding allocations for FTE.

Action 5: Support data privacy programs at each organization (UIUC, UIC, UIH, UIS, and SO)

• Finalize UIUC data privacy consulting engagement to be used with UIC's completed self-assessment to establish a baseline.

Action 2: Develop a federated systemwide data governance program

• Dedicate resources to engage with the university faculty and staff to facilitate success achieving data governance, management, and data use goals
• Assess the need for new data policies and standards
• Establish core principles and practices for leveraging data as a strategic asset
• Develop a systemwide data classification framework that categorizes and manages data based on its sensitivity, value, and regulatory requirements (completed by TF, needs implemented)
• Develop and implement a standardized data integration approach and process
• Partner with risk management organizations systemwide to assess current risks with data management practices
• Profile current data and develop data quality standards, best practices, and the capability to remediate quality issues
• Assess and rationalize current data architecture, management, and storage across the U of I System
• Assess current historical data retention and analysis capabilities against organizational goals
• Assess the applicability of current data structures and governance to artificial intelligence efforts and iteratively make improvements to meet systemwide needs

Action 3: Implement a systemwide core data model (beginning with student data)

Action 4: Strengthen our systemwide data usage capabilities by improving data literacy

• Develop systemwide and university specific data literacy programs
• Develop an annual Data Summit
• Document data flows and lifecycle to understand current data processes and develop improvements
• Engage with communication experts systemwide to raise awareness of the importance of data governance
• Document and disseminate business terms and metadata in a broadly accessible system to increase literacy
• Catalog and document data solutions already available such as standardized reports, dashboards, predictive analytics solutions, and data driven planning tools
• Research and educate on best practices in gathering data requirements and data analysis to elevate literacy in this skill and enhance the data solutions that are developed for systemwide use
• Provide for advanced analytics, enhanced visualization capacity, and the appropriate levels of access for individuals based on their roles

Action 5: Support data privacy programs at each organization (UIUC, UIC, UIH, UIS, and SO)

• Complete systemwide data privacy program evaluation including resource requirements to establish roadmap and tasks
• Create a System Office Data Privacy Director in the University Ethics & Compliance Office

Action 6: Deploy technology and operations to provide initial and ongoing support for the U of I System Data Strategy Program

• Develop a process to review contracts of duplicative technologies and evaluate whether it would be feasible to develop a coordinated purchasing and support strategy
• Implement a systemwide data catalog to streamline data discovery and metadata management
• Develop an access framework and implement solutions that work together to automate access provisioning

Action 1: Establish a systemwide Data Office and provide the appropriate resources at each organization for data services/education

Begin work on prioritized areas and recruit needed FTE who will support data as a service and support the other goals including:

• Create a 'Data and Analytics Resource Center' at each entity to house new FTE/functions, integrating into existing structure
• Direct customer support via data/analytics consultants available to colleges/depts
• Develop data literacy programs
• Coordinate data governance and process development/implementation
• Develop and support core data models and data catalog

Action 5: Support data privacy programs at each organization (UIUC, UIC, UIH, UIS, and SO)

• Invest in FTEs for universities privacy programs as data needs grow over time, initial investment needed includes one data privacy professional at UIC and UIUC
• Establish governance with a systemwide Privacy Working Group (PWG)
• Create new and update existing systemwide data privacy policies, standards, guidelines, and controls the update organization specific policies as needed based on systemwide policies
• Develop a rolling three-year roadmap, and projects plan to facilitate compliance with the privacy programs
• Create organizational specific online and other supporting resources that guide the units and individuals on how to implement and prioritize the adoption of data privacy programs
• Track regulatory compliance posture of the U of I System
• Develop and maintain standardized privacy compliance and risk metrics
• Create coordinated privacy incident/breach management and response systemwide

Action 6: Deploy technology and operations to provide initial and ongoing support for the U of I System Data Strategy Program

• Prioritize user rights and consent management with automated data privacy tools and privacy engineering capabilities
• Enable programmatic access to major data systems to enable end-user needs with a focus on scalability and data integration that aligns with business objectives