CISG-PCMG23

Michelle McGaughey moved to the Digital Transformation Team earlier this year to take up the role of Digital Transformation Architect, just in time to bring her Dynamics 365 experience to Clearing at Queen’s. Michelle is also project lead for the new Application Management System currently under development.

Sean in an experienced Digital, Data and Technology Director having worked in Financial Services, the NHS, Housing, Police, Local Government and now Higher Education. Leading large teams and significant digital transformations.

In his current role he leads the Digital and Data Technology Services for the University of East Anglia where he has worked for almost 18 months.

Polly delivers digital transformation projects that support Falmouth’s strategy; with a focus on delivering, managing, and embedding digital change. She joined Falmouth in 2019 after a self-employed career in the software industry delivering digital solutions to a wide variety of public and private organisations.

Sophie Harrison is the Director of Agile Product Delivery at UCL, where she is accountable for the governance and delivery of the digital investment portfolio and leads their agile transformation. Prior to joining UCL in November 2020, Sophie worked at PA Consulting supporting large and complex organisations with their agile transformations.

Technology user, developer, advocate for 20 years in the public sector. Created many solutions using “the tools we already have”.

Andrew joined Amazon Web Services as Executive Lead for UK Education in January 2022 with a focus on helping education leaders achieve their strategic aims through the use of digital technology, innovation, and culture. He has over 15 years of digital leadership and transformation experience across the UK public sector.

Andrew was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor (Digital) for Staffordshire University, a member of the executive team with direct responsibility for the Digital, Estates, and Transformation portfolios.

Over five years, Andrew oversaw the rising reputation of Staffordshire as a leading digital university with achievements including becoming the first university in Europe to migrate fully to cloud, and the first to launch an AI-driven coach and support assistant for students.

In 2020, Andrew was named UK Chief Digital Officer of the Year by Computing magazine, and was also included in the ‘Digital 100’ list of the most influential digital leaders in the UK. Previously, Andrew led the IT & Digital service at West Midlands Police between 2012 and 2017, receiving a Chief Constable’s Award for establishing them at the vanguard of policing innovation.

Andy Smith Joined UCL in May 2020 as CIO and before that he was the Global CIO for Arm from 2014 to 2019. Arm is one the world’s leading technology companies with its processor designs in more than 150 billion chips including almost every phone in the world. Prior to this Andy spent 5 years as a Government CIO working for one of the agencies in the defence sector. Before that he worked for 20 years with BP in a variety of roles and locations around the world including 6 years in Alaska. Andy lives in Cambridge with his wife and two daughters. He is a keen sportsman who has recently discovered the game of Real Tennis.

Dr Jodie Wetherall is Associate Director - Office of the CIO at the University of Greenwich, where he is leading the development of the institutions new Digital Strategy (https://www.gre.ac.uk/it-and-library/digital-strategy), articulating its digital ambitions through to 2030. Jodie has worked in Higher Education since 2001. Having spent 18 years as an academic in computer engineering, consulting and researching in robotics and security, he transitioned into IT management following his passion for technology in education. Jodie holds a PhD in Computer Engineering and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director for Leigh Academies Trust.

A “jack of all trades” professional within the Technology sector. Sally’s passion and purpose is to drive, deliver, support innovation and technology - to change and transform services for the better for students and staff.

Sara Somerville is a Senior Systems Development Manager at the University of Glasgow. Sara has 20+ years experience implementing transformative digital projects. Currently responsible for the strategic implementation of customer experience technologies and enhancing digital services, including the University’s student app & portal. Passionate about understanding the needs of our Students & Staff to enable the delivery of impactful digital experiences. Also…agile fan-girl!!

Professor Alison Honour has been the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) since 2021. Prior to this, she held two Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Faculty roles at Birmingham City University and De Montfort University.At CCCU, Alison's leadership priorities are focused on the successful implementation of the university's new Strategic Framework Vision 2030 and driving key initiatives to deliver an outstanding student experience and outstanding student outcomes. Alison's role includes reviewing the systems and processes to improve how the curriculum is developed, managed and monitored with the university's new partnership with CourseLoop and the rollout of its end to end Curriculum Management Platform.

Allister Frost is a business transformation expert and international keynote speaker who inspires audiences to confidently embrace change for a better tomorrow. His career took an unorthodox turn when he left the security of a traditional manufacturing company to join Microsoft in the fast- evolving technology sector. Faced with the dizzying effects of uncertainty and constant change, Allister developed strategies to help his teams thrive in perpetual ambiguity. He now shares the secrets to his success in his talks. He rose to become Microsoft’s first ever Head of Digital Marketing Strategy, pioneering revolutionary customer centric communication channels and creating iconic global brand campaigns.

Allister now works as consultant and motivational speaker for world-leading organisations including GE, 3M, and Vodafone. Through a decade of client projects, he has demonstrated how anyone, regardless of the state of the economy or the nature of their business, can develop the resiliency and passion to keep up with technology-fuelled change. With the right coping strategies, we can all look forward to a lifetime of personal growth and career success.

Allister shares his powerful FROST Change Cycle in his ‘Five Steps to Success’ performances at in-person and virtual business conferences and company events around the world. He specialises in helping people rethink their relationship with technology, so they can identify and pursue the most promising growth opportunities that our fast-changing world presents. His mission each day is simple: to give others the daily habits and lifelong focus needed to become future-ready for life.

Sky is Head of Transformation at the University of Nottingham where her focus is on supporting people through Digital Transformation. She is also enjoying her third year as a Non-Executive Director of the Change Management Institute. Sky is a Specialist Accredited Change Practitioner and specialises in benefits management.

I am passionate about research and have a PhD in Computer Vision, as a former Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security I have a detailed understanding of the needs of our userbase. I am now the CTO at the University of South Wales, leading initiatives in Information Security, EdTech, and Architecture.

John has over 30 years of experience working in Higher Education. He started out his career as an academic teaching Information Systems but was drawn into the practical application of systems to enhance the student experience. He has held a number of roles ranging from Resources Manager through to Director of Marketing, Recruitment & External Relations through to his current role as Associate Chief Operating Officer at the University of Salford with responsibility for the whole student journey from initial enquiry through to graduation and beyond.

James Smith is Chief Information Officer at Birkbeck, University of London, where he is responsible for the delivery of Library and IT services that are relied upon by Birkbeck’s staff, students, and commercial customers. The services provided support student engagement with the life-changing educational opportunities that are central to the institution’s mission, internationally recognised research, and the administration of the enterprise. Prior to his current role, James has worked on corporate system implementation projects (on both the customer and supplier side), small and large scale institutional change projects, process discovery and improvement. James has been a UCISA trustee since 2021 and is chair of UCISA-CISG.

Rupert is the Digital Experience & Platforms Manager at the University of Plymouth and is responsible for several enterprise level platforms including their Mobile App and CRM. Driving through change to transform a student’s experience is at the core of Plymouth’s strategy and Rupert is dedicated to maximising the capabilities of each platform.

Alexis Nelson works in UCL’s Information Services Division as a Technical Lead and the API & Application Integration Services Platform Owner. He's been at UCL since the late 00’s and working on integrations and APIs since the mid-10's. His favourite colour is blue and his favourite cloud provider is AWS.

Chris is Chief Technology Officer at Bath Spa where he leads all the teams that implement, support, maintain and improve the IT infrastructure and our digital estate comprising a range of off the shelf software solutions and those developed in-house.

Having worked at Bath Spa for almost 20 years, he is passionate about the place he works and is always on the lookout to support organisational change with technology.

An experienced technology leader in Higher Education, Rachael joined Bath Spa in 2016. She is currently engaged in delivering an ambitious programme of Digital Transformation, in close collaboration with academic leaders across the organisation. Rachael is passionate about using digital technology to support Bath Spa’s sustainability commitments.

Paul is a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner where his research area is mainly higher education digital strategies, governance, operating models, and trends. Prior to joining Gartner in May 2022, Paul had 30 years in the higher education sector. The last 12 years were as Director of Library and Services at Cardiff Metropolitan University. As Director, Paul was responsible for Library Services (Learning Centres, digital resources), Information Services (user support, infrastructure, software development), and Business Improvement Services (programme/project management, business analysis, change and engagement).

Scott serves as the Head of Teaching, Learning, and Digital at Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT), where he helms a technologically adept team primarily composed of former students. This team specialises in digitally enriching educational practices and has received multiple accolades, including the 2018 TES FE Award for 'Outstanding use of Technology' and the Wellbeing at Work award at the Hampshire Inspire Awards 2023.

Claire is the Strategic Projects Manager at Leeds Trinity University. Claire’s current role builds on 25 years’ experience of working in the Higher Education sector across a range of disciplines, including Marketing, Comms, Governance, and Web Management, as well as working for and with HEIs across the UK and Ireland. ‘Making things better’ is Claire’s general mantra when it comes to getting things done, as well as putting the user (whoever the user may be!) first.

Sophie works as Product Manager within the IT Services Department at the University of Sheffield, and is responsible for managing the University’s productivity products, particularly Google Workspace, enabling the University and its partners to work efficiently, effectively and collaboratively. Sophie is currently focussed on improving Information Management practices across the University, and also has a passion for enhancing digital skills and supporting colleagues in adopting productivity tools.

Mike is the Programme Director at the University of Aberdeen, and also the Secretary of the UCISA HEIDS Group. He has worked at the University for nearly 25 years in a wide range of Digital roles, currently leading a team of PRINCE Practitioners with responsibility for ensuring the University has the bandwidth and capability to deliver on our Digital ambitions. He also plays a central role in financial planning of all things Digital and ensures that the user is at the heart of everything we do.