<The UTO Source> – November 2019 Edition

Welcome to the first edition of <The UTO Source>, a monthly round up of the biggest stories and examples of how the University Technology Office at ASU and its members further the innovative mission of the University.

UTO's Annual Highlights Showcase 2019

As we come to the last quarter of 2019, we here at UTO felt it was time to reflect on our achievements for the calendar and fiscal year behind us. When we did, we found some incredible stories to tell, like how culture is at the core of our innovation, how the Experience Center is meeting student needs, how a Next Gen Network is our destiny, and more. The work contained within is just a facet, a big one however, of why ASU was named #1 in innovation for the fifth year in a row.

Bridging the Chaos: UTO's First Technology in the Public Interest Event Brings Author David Weinberger to ASU

Where does journalism fit into technology and our future? How do you cover “overload,” the constant flow of information that goes to and fro on the internet? How can journalism help us face the echo chambers that form in response to chaos? These were the big questions at UTO’s first Technology in the Public Interest: An Author Series event, hosted at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

National Cyber Security Month 2019

For National Cyber Security Month 2019, UTO's Governance, Policy, and Information Security team rolled out a full campaign, featuring weekly articles, a student video contest, outreach at student career events, and a talk from former FBI agent Michael McAndrews on the dark web. The collection of materials can be found on the GPIS site, GetProtected.

Hunting for Threats and the Future of Arizona Cybersecurity

Security is paramount to ASU and UTO and our Protect Arizona Initiative is a multi-year effort to increase collaboration across Arizona organizations. This dedication to protecting the University’s community, and beyond, most recently resulted in a “summit” of cyber security professionals coming together for a day of collaboration and Threat Hunting.

UTO Representation at October's Organizational Excellence Community of Practice

UTO’s Chief Culture Officer, Christine Whitney Sanchez, and Organizational Change Management Practitioner, Danielle B. Steele, presented to more than 200 audience members in the room and another 90 participants on Zoom at October’s Organizational Excellence Community of Practice.

ASU’s Trusted Learner Network Leverages Blockchain to Recognize Student Achievement

As learners enter new phases of study, career, and life, the cultivation of demonstrable strengths is important to success. The Trusted Learner Network (TLN), a collaboration between Office of the University Provost, UTO, and EdPlus, is a new way for that information to be gathered and distributed. A new, secure and decentralized approach to recording, curating and sharing learner data on abilities and skills across the learner’s lifespan, the TLN addresses a common need for students. It provides an aggregate of these abilities and accomplishments, data that can be shared and accessed easily across a learning lifetime.

ASU and Sprint Partner to Bring 5G and Curiosity IoT to Campus and Beyond

Arizona State University, in collaboration with a number of industry partners, is a driving force in the development of a “Smart” Campus, leveraging the connectivity of the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a more effective and engaging learning space. That effort has grown into the concept of a Smart City, and even a Smart Region. And now, ASU’s partnership with Sprint will bring 5G service and the Curiosity IoT network to the University, a move that will offer new and immersive experiences to students on campus as well as contribute to a larger expansion of internet connectivity in the Phoenix area and beyond.

UTO's Nathanael Davis Featured in Atlassian Success Story

"[The] benefit of the Atlassian toolset is that it allows us to support the variety of needs from customers seamlessly," Davis said for Atlassian's highlight blog.

Working Without a Net: Moving from System-Driven to Student-Driven Models

ShapingEDU Storyteller-in-Residence Tom Haymes contributes key ideas for the cross-institutional, cross-industy, and international initiative on the ShapingEDU site. As he wrote this month: "There is also a familiarity and comfort to the model of the professor bringing his or her knowledge into the room and working through it step-by-step. In this paradigm it was up to the student to keep up with the professor’s thought processes or fail the course. As Professor Kingsfield says in The Paper Chase, 'I am here to massage your brain.' This system has eaten up and spit out students for over a century and is still the modality in the vast majority of colleges and universities in the world."

UTO Gives Back

Every month, UTO's Giving Back team hosts and/or facilitates a number of community aid and community building events, fulfilling ASU's mission to be socially embedded both within and beyond the university. And the team has been giving back more and more, with October being no exception.

• A regular visit to Feed My Starving Children's offices in Mesa yielded 49,032 meals packed, which will feed 134 children in need around the world for a year.
• A visit to the Tempe Town Lake Oktoberfest and volunteering time at ticket booths was all part of the event's effort to raise money for a program that sends Tempe High School juniors on ten week international experiences.
• Zero Waste is an important initiative at ASU, and UTO hosted a visit from Katie Schumacher at Zero Waste to educate about how to separate garbage, recyclables, compostables, and more.
• UTO employees participated in the ASU Palm Walk Medjool Date Harvest, gathering the fruit and not letting it go to waste.
• Volunteers got to step outside with the slowly improving weather and helped clean up Papago Park, removing debris and litter from the recreation area to keep Tempe's natural areas beautiful.