Empower is the premiere ASU event for convening voices across ASU’s IT community to showcase and envision successful and emergent applications of technology at ASU. The goal for this annual event -- which will be virtual in its fourth year -- is to connect and foster an enabling + catalyzing culture within the ASU-wide IT community. During this digitally immerse, highly interactive event, you’ll walk away with deeper connections, new ideas constructed through share experience and actionable lists to inform IT strategy and priority at ASU.

Technology has the potential to positively disrupt University life -- when aligned with advancing the inclusive charter of ASU. It takes diverse voices and a vibrant, connected culture to continuously elevate community experiences with IT. That is why this year’s theme is Soar into Empower. At ASU, we’re always intentionally fostering opportunities for technological innovation -- let’s take flight!

Before we fly, we need to know what is working. Day 1 of Empower will highlight five of the top ideas from the 2020 Empower Event, while Day 2 will give you the wings you need to determine what’s next and give you the foundation you need to soar.

Join us on May 13 & 14, 2021 at EmpowerUTO’s fourth annual IT community retreat! 

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Hot air balloons flying in clouds

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Empower

Day 1: Where we are today - Your big ideas in action!

What is working? We want to hear about it! On Day 1 of Empower, presenters will have 15 minutes to share how their big idea aligns with one of the five Empower 2020 projects and helps the ASU IT community soar. 

After presenters share their ideas, Empower attendees will conduct a Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results (SOAR) analysis to evaluate how the idea guides the ASU IT community to focus on its strengths while looking toward the future. Let’s see which ideas will fly!

hand with plant = growth

Empowering Student + Employee Growth & Change

Professional development should be tailored to the individual, with mentors and leaders helping to create a path for everyone. This involves a commitment from leadership to allow time to cross-train others, develop employees’ skills, participate in a mentorship program or learn something new on a daily or weekly basis.

people connected in a circle

Collaboration Across the University

It is important to create transparency across the IT community and broader learning and culture-focused communities, in the process highlighting the projects and people across the university that show the impossible is possible. One way to do this is by creating cross-collaborative training and discussion sessions for how to analyze information that is put out across departments and groups.

meter

Public Dashboards

The analytics environment can be more accessible to all departments instead of focusing on only data analysts. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but one example is holding workshops on how anyone can utilize dashboards, analytics and reports to make better-informed decisions for academic and administrative purposes.

people and technology coming together

Hybrid Virtual Working & Improved Work-life Balance

The dynamic of a traditional office environment has changed forever, and so have the needs of a hybrid work setting. We need to recognize when human teams need to meet onsite to accomplish goals, and when those human teams need support to improve their work/life balance.

leaf in a gear

Sustainable Technological Practices

Sustainability is a key part of responsible innovation, not just an environmental practice! There are a number of things we need to accomplish sustainable technological practice, but a big one is a focus on very few big-picture, cross-team projects as a priority.

Day 2: Where we are going -- What is the next big idea?

Day 2 will focus on Open Space Technology. Connect with professionals all over ASU to SOAR into the future by rising together to find the next idea to advance ASU.

In Open Space gatherings, participants create and manage their own agenda of parallel working sessions around central themes of strategic importance.

 

Open Space Map: Question mark, word clouds, two feet, arrows, group of people