User focus
In the work to create the new IT department, one point has been particularly central, namely user focus. There should be no doubt that the new organization will be accessible to IT users, meet the needs that are reported, and offer efficient and good solutions. It will also be easier to contact the IT department, because whether it concerns user IT support in everyday life or a request for advice on acquisitions for teaching or research projects - or anything else IT-related, the same point of contact applies: it-support@uio.no
IT Help, joint point of contact
Your contact for everything to do with IT is new IT Help section. All inquiries that come in for IT Help are either resolved by the person who receives it, or it is routed on to the right place and the right person. IT Help is a continuation and expansion of the UiO Helpdesk which was started during the corona shutdown. They can resolve inquiries over the phone, by e-mail, chat or Zoom, and the section is staffed with highly qualified operational personnel. Inquiries about problems that require the physical presence of an IT employee or that require a high degree of local knowledge are transferred to the sections that have a physical location outside the units.
It’s all new, but you can still do as before
The new IT department has been created to be responsive to the rapid changes in both technology and the way we work with technology. When IT at UiO now is more unified than before, the transition to new solutions and technologies is easier, and there will always be new tasks if old tasks are eliminated with changes in technology and methodology. UiO will notice the improvements that result from this gradually. For all IT users, including students, IT Help now applies as a joint point of contact, but everyone can still get in touch with support in the same way as before. The IT staff who have their work in faculties and institutes will have the same offices as before, and will also answer e-mails and telephones as before. If you have a contact person for advice on IT equipment for your research or teaching, nothing changes either - except that your contact person has gained a larger network of colleagues and works in a more agile organisation.
The IT Department
It has been a long and extensive project to create a new, joint IT organisation at UiO, but now it is in place. The name is simply the IT department, and it consists of four sub-departments: IT User Contact and Service Centre, IT in Dissemination, Research and Education, IT Infrastructure and Staff and Support. The sub-department IT User Contact and Service Center is completely new, and contains, among other things, the IT Help section, which replaces the Helpdesk and is the common point of contact for everything about IT at UiO. In addition, the sub-department also has four sections with IT staff who have their daily work at the faculties and take care of local needs both for planning and local projects, and support where spesialised local knowledge or physical attendance is necessary.
The sub-department for IT in Dissemination, Research and Education is also new, and it includes the former Division for Research Computing combined with the sections which design, develop and operate solutions for education and dissemination. Also new is the section for Advanced User Contact, which will receive and follow up inquiries from researchers, teachers and disseminators. The inquieries will be processed by the specialists in the department.
- See prestentation of the IT department and organisational chart (Norwegian only)
Going forward
The new IT department is active and fully operational from 1 January, but even then there is still some work to be done before the organization has found its shape. New collaboration arenas must be established, routines must be incorporated and the culture in the new organization must be built. One of the initiatives which will be established, is the "AV hotline" for immediate help with AV equipment. Requests at the AV hotline will be given top priority both at IT Help and local staff if you are about to start teaching and the equipment in the auditorium does not work.