UTO Collaborates on Game-Changing Ideas at Engage 2019

“Collaboration” was among the watchwords during Engage 2019, UTO’s Internal IT Professional Development Event. On Thursday, August 15, the UTO family gathered for a day of productivity and fun, strengthening partnerships and forming new ones while developing innovations together. Engage 2019, held at Dave & Buster’s, focused on opening new modes and channels of communication as we worked on 12 big ideas, submitted by UTO employees, for UTO’s first idea hackathon.

As CIO Lev Gonick put it, another watchword of the day was “celebratory.” UTO celebrated our impressive accomplishments and their connection to our annual goals. In fact, each of the 12 big ideas brought to the day represented at least one of those key goals, if not more. As part of their initial pitches to entice participants to work on their concepts, the idea originators and their co-facilitators passionately delivered reasons why their proposals could form into projects that fuel those goals and UTO’s vision for advancing the New American University.

Breaking Down Silos

Some key themes emerged from Engage. Many of the ideas involved breaking down silos, most notably the winning one for the day. Titled “Collaborative Work Space for IT Scripters, Code Ninjas and HTML Geeks,” the concept rested on the premise that a digital storage option is necessary for university-wide programmers to access. There’s no need for solutions to be redundantly created across ASU, and individuals and teams sharing their resources and work with everyone would make many processes and developments more efficient.

Idea originator and ServiceNow developer Chelsey Ingersoll proposed the collaborative work space. “When all you have is an idea, getting the attention of the right people to make it happen can feel insurmountable,” Chelsey said. “Engage gave this little idea the attention of nearly everyone within UTO. This idea now has the attention of an entire organization, and can leverage that mind share to deliver something awesome.” Since the idea was selected by the UTO community as the winner of the prize package, real resources and time will now be devoted to it.

As mentioned, the winning idea represented the key goal of breaking down silos. But in a larger sense, it represented a sense of open collaboration. Engage’s hackathon brought leadership figures into direct and equal contact across the 12 working groups, and UTO’s collective voice decided the direction of a new project. 

Another exciting aspect of a more open culture was that the 11 other big ideas not selected during the final prize pitches still will be in consideration for UTO going forward. New Slack channels were created to continue the conversations and work.

The “Generating Culture Ripples” idea, for example, was centered on elevating a conscious, collaborative culture for all ASU IT professionals. And the “Crowdsource/Work Priority” idea takes collaboration outside of UTO; this idea’s thesis was that the best and most transparent way to determine UTO’s priorities is through a crowdsourced approach, addressing the needs of students, faculty and staff.

Focusing more on internal growth, on the other hand, the layout and design aspirations of the next open space for UTO HQ in the University Services Building was also a big topic for “Co-Design the Next Working Space at USB” as we explore how best to collaborate and innovate.

Developing New Technology

Of course, in a tech-focused organization, several big ideas were more technical. “Design of a Realistic DevSecOps Model,” for example, picked up steam as a cross-disciplinary method of fusing culture, project management practices, and technical tools to establish more effective approaches. 

For the “Creating a Data Mindset Among All of UTO” idea, the collection, organization and storage of data in all that we do is crucial to creating a data mindset among all of UTO, another hot topic of discussion at Engage. 

Further, a “User-friendly AWS Cost Calculator” for customers across the university was almost fully designed in just a few short hours at the event.

Serving ASU...

Speaking of user-friendly, a couple other ideas were about making it easier for everyone to more effectively do their jobs and access ASU resources. One group developed an idea for a “Service Web Chart” that leverages various platforms to connect UTO employees that could be needed for assistance on a project, but aren’t necessarily known personally to those working on said project. And another, “Utilize a Cloud Identity Provider for Authentication on macOS Devices,” addressed the need for a single sign-on solution for macOS devices, as Windows users have been able to do.

...and Beyond

Some ideas also took UTO’s impact beyond ASU staff -- and even students. “Preparing ASU for the NextGen Network” has the potential to impact people within ten miles of an ASU campus. Additionally, UTO’s “Green Weavers” are trying to lessen the negative impact on our environment with creative solutions to e-waste. Finally, a “UTO Student Worker Digital Credential Pilot,” potentially in partnership with local, national, and global industries, could enrich and empower a new segment of the workforce.

Whether they invigorated UTO and ASU culture, developed future technologies, refined the tools we use every day, or broadened the scope of our work to impact the places and communities ASU touches, Engage’s big ideas demonstrated the creativity and drive of the UTO family. They represented our underlying beliefs, assumptions, and values, which were all...engaged (!) and challenged in interesting ways. We look forward to Engage 2020 and all future events where UTO and the ASU IT community work together to evolve the ASU experience.