Projects and Programmes Digest: Trinity term 2025

Find out about new and ongoing digital and IT projects and programmes and how these will affect you

1 May 2025

A lot of work is underway across the five Digital Portfolios to enable Oxford’s digital transformation. Some of this work is to establish the building-blocks for change: digitising our processes and integrating them into existing systems, and reviewing and streamlining our processes to allow the truly transformational digital change to take place. Other work is delivering completely new, digital platforms to improve how we do research and teaching at Oxford. We continue to modernise and upgrade our IT infrastructure and improve how we work together to make the most of our digital and IT systems.

Technology Portfolio Projects and Programmes

The Technology Portfolio ensures that key IT infrastructure remains supported while advancing the University’s digital ambitions. It also enhances the University’s ability to mitigate and respond to the growing cybersecurity threat.

Telephony Replacement Project

The project will be presenting its business case to Technology Portfolio Committee (TPC) and Information and Digital Committee (IDC) in Trinity term and further communications will be disseminated thereafter. In the meantime, please note that in order to finalise the costing model for the new telephony service, we will be requesting detailed information from colleges and departments regarding VoIP (Voice over IP) telephony requirements from June 2025.  Contact the Project team 

Shared Infrastructure Services Programme

A number of initiatives within the Shared Infrastructure Services Programme are well underway. The Shared Device Management team are settling into the agile way of working, and from March have begun monthly sprint round-up articles covering lessons learnt and next steps. You can find these articles via the new project webpage: Shared Infrastructure Services Project   

The Shared IT Apprenticeship Scheme initiative, aimed at school-leavers, is also underway, with applications now open. Successful applicants will be invited to an assessment centre. The Social Sciences Division, Medical Sciences Division and IT Services are among those signed up to the programme so far and will be taking their apprentices on from September. More information on how the scheme works, what it involves, and how to get involved in the future will be available soon.

Identity Improvement Programme (IIP) 

In Hilary Term, a major focus has been aligning scope with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Programme and the Data Strategy Improvement Programme (DSIP), including collaboration on a shared approach to identity matching across systems. 

From Trinity term, new technical and process architecture devised in the definition phase will support incremental delivery of different elements of an improved identity service. New functionality will be introduced gradually, minimising disruption to existing identity components. 

During Trinity term, IIP will prioritise delivery of local group management, consideration of support processes for the identity lifecycle, and identity provision for non-card holders, piloting with early adopters to refine the approach.

Network Asset Discovery 

Tanium, the University’s tool for network asset discovery and cybersecurity posture management, now provides coverage across the vast majority of departments and colleges. This has significantly strengthened the University's cybersecurity posture. Further improvements are planned by expanding coverage to additional areas and onboarding more devices. Units are encouraged to contact OxCERT to discuss how they can benefit from the platform. Those already using Tanium have been invited to a termly user group to help maximise its value, resolve issues, and share best practices. 

Education Portfolio Projects and Programmes

The Education Portfolio is currently supporting 23 ongoing projects, aiming to pave a sustainable pathway for technological innovation within Oxford’s teaching and learning, improve the user experience for students, academics and administrators, and allow them to navigate Oxford’s emerging digital environment. 

MEADS (Microsoft Education Applications Delivery Squad) 

The Continuous Improvement (CI) squads for TMS (Teaching Management System) and ADSS (Undergraduate Admissions Decision Support System) have recently merged to form the Microsoft Applications Delivery Squad (MEADS). MEADS will continue to enhance both systems, focusing on meeting user needs and improving user experience for each.  

On 22 April, the team released significant new updates to TMS, helping streamline tasks and improve the system experience. Changes included: bulk editing academic reports, duplicating teaching arrangements, simplifying teaching arrangements and introducing a student full-name search. MEADS has also reduced page loading times across the system.

Exam Timetabling Operations 

Exam Timetabling Operations seeks to replace CMIS, the University’s outdated, central exam timetabling system, which is in end-of-life support and no longer fit for purpose. The project team has started a tendering process to identify the preferred new system and supplier.  

The new system will also replace aging access databases and excel spreadsheeting currently underpinning exam timetabling processes and which add significant risk to ongoing service delivery. 

SITS/eVision related projects 

Many of the projects under the Portfolio aim to move existing education-related processes and system functionality into SITS/eVision to standardise the experience and streamline activities for both staff and students - moving things into a single, familiar system where possible. 

Marks Management 

The Marks Management project is streamlining the process of collating assessment marks and calculating awards within one system: SITS eVision. Phase II of the project successfully centralised marks management for Law and PPE. The next phase of Marks Management was recently approved by Education Portfolio Committee and will bring the new functionality to several additional areas of the University. 

On-Course Applications 

The penultimate graduate studies form (Change in Supervision Arrangement) being moved online by the On-Course Applications project went live in February. The remaining 'Change of programme of study' form is scheduled to move into eVision in September.

Student Fees & Funding 

Student Fees & Funding is moving the current end-to-end processes for the financial declaration form (FDF) and the graduate funding & payment processes (GFPP) into eVision, replacing manual spreadsheets and access database processes.  

The new online processes will benefit from one version of key data from SITS, thus reducing the risk of errors from multiple data and improving process efficiency. The new FDF processes are due to go live in Michaelmas term 2025, with the GFPP processes following in early 2026.  

Engagement and Dissemination Portfolio Projects and Programmes

The Engagement & Dissemination Portfolio aims to enable richer and deeper engagement with the collegiate University. The portfolio delivers projects relating to the University’s digital communications, world-leading collections, and development & alumni engagement ambitions. 

Transforming Oxford's Digital Communications 

The Transforming Oxford's Digital Communications Programme is creating new, world-class web and intranet platform solutions for Oxford University. This includes developing a new Web Content Management System (CMS), Oxford Fresco, to replace Mosaic, redeveloping the main Oxford University website (Oxweb), and building an intranet (OxIntranet) for staff and students. We are prioritising security, scalability, and accessibility, ensuring excellent digital experiences for all users. We will soon be migrating existing content to the new platforms, in alignment with a Content Strategy, which governs and manages online content at Oxford.

Oxford Talks & Vacancies

Oxford Talks (OxTalks) and Vacancies are the final applications that make use of the Data.Ox platform which is no longer supported and cannot be maintained. The project was initiated as a response to the strategic roadmap which sees the University moving away from legacy, unsupported and on-premises solutions towards shared solutions that fulfil a variety of needs in a range of applications. 

Oxford Talks is an event listing and event curation application made up of two components: a publicly available website where events are displayed, and an administrative tool for managing those events.  Oxford Talks will be replaced with a Microsoft-based solution delivered by the CRM Programme. 

The Vacancies application is a feed of job listings from the University’s recruitment website and a widget that shows these listings on department web pages. The project is reaching out to all departments using the Vacancies application with Data.Ox to provide enough time for them to find and implement an alternative solution. For more information visit the Oxford Talks (OxTalks) and Vacancies page or contact Sharon Cornwell. 

Moving away from the Data.Ox platform will ensure business continuity and improved risk management of critical underlying infrastructure, whilst continuing to deliver sustainable event management and the capability to display job listings. 

University Podcasts Upgrade & Consolidation 

The Oxford Podcasts website is a key engagement channel where anyone can download thousands of hours of public lectures, interviews with leading academics, teaching materials and much more.  

Oxford Podcasts is made up of two parts: the front-end website via which users access podcasts and a back-end site used by administrators across the University to catalogue, publish, and administer podcasts. 

This current solution is now end-of-life and so the University Podcasts Upgrade & Consolidation project will consolidate the two related applications onto a single application and streamline the publishing and administration processes, reduce complexity and cost, and improve the user experience for both admin and end users. 

This new consolidated system is planned to go live at the end of 2025, with further worked planned to enhance and streamline the user interface and reporting capabilities. Any queries about the project should be sent to: podcasts@it.ox.ac.uk 

Research Portfolio Projects and Programmes

The Research Portfolio aims to deliver sustained improvement in the digital services and capabilities that enable world-leading research at Oxford.  

Oxford Research Management System (ORMS) 

The new Oxford Research Management System (ORMS) will provide a single, digital platform to effectively support the scale and complexity of Oxford’s research activity. Prioritising the user experience of our researchers and professional services staff during the research management process and driving forward efficiencies are paramount to the ORMS programme. 

Following successful scoping and definition phases, involving consulting with over 100 colleagues, the full business and investment case is due to be submitted during Trinity term. If approved, implementation will begin in summer 2025. 

High Performance Computing (HPC) 

We continue to work with Oxford’s research computing teams to develop next-generation HPC capabilities that meet the evolving needs of researchers across the University. This term, we held a successful workshop with departmental representatives to understand real-world HPC requirements, which identified 450kW of near-term demand and provided valuable insights into current and emerging research use cases across disciplines. We have now finalised the design specification for a high-density cooling infrastructure at an existing University data centre, enabling direct-to-chip liquid cooling. This upgrade will support a wide range of intensive research workloads including AI, machine learning, simulation, and large-scale data processing, on hardware that would not be feasible to operate without liquid cooling. We will soon identify a specialist data centre contractor to deliver the project under a design and build model. 

We are also enhancing Oxford’s central HPC capabilities by upgrading both the ARC and BMRC platforms with new compute, storage, and GPU resources for delivery in 2025. These investments will improve performance, availability, and resilience across key research computing services. 

Work also continues on the development of a central Trusted Research Environment (TRE) to support secure research with sensitive data. We are currently recruiting a fixed delivery team and gathering pilot projects that will shape the platform’s development and release, following an iterative, product-focused approach. 

Administration Portfolio Projects and Programmes

People and Finance Service Transformation 

Following wide engagement through a series of focus groups held in Michaelmas term, the People and Finance Service Transformation programme has continued its work on developing the programme approach, understanding benefits and agreeing key priorities.  

Staff are invited to attend a webinar at 11am on Tuesday 6 May with the programme sponsors Katherine Gardiner (Director of Finance Operations), Renu Gupta (Deputy HR Director/Director of Talent) and David White (Divisional Registrar Social Sciences Division) who will reflect on what we have learned so far, share next steps and answer your questions. To book your place, please complete this registration form.  

Purchasing hierarchy project 

Staff responsible for managing delegations of authority, HAFs, Finance teams, budget-holders and anyone who currently approves spend is invited to the project delivery and data collection launch. The event will take place online on Thursday 1 May 2-3pm, helping colleagues to understand what the change will mean for them and how they will be supported. For the meeting link and more details see the project webpage.This project is an important building block for the People and Finance Service Transformation. 

Workforce Management 

The new HR Self-Service PeopleXD mobile app will be available for all staff from 28 April 2025. Staff will be able to view and update personal information, view and download payslips and P60s, as well as view some contractual information. Staff from departments who have gone live with the Leave and Absence module or the Rostering module will have additional functionality in the app, such as being able to request annual leave and view rosters. Staff can find further information and guidance materials for the app via Employee Self-Service - download and use Mobile App   

Radiation Management System now live 

Odyssey, the the University’s radiation management system, now manages the University’s inventory of radioactive sources, records radioactive waste generated by relevant departments and manages radiation generating devices and hand-held equipment used in radiation activities. 

This launch is a significant milestone for Oxford and a big step to continue our compliance with health and safety law. 35 impacted departments and business units have received in-person training and support from the Safety Office and the project team, with online training sessions, eLearning resources and online written guidance also available to ensure that all users are fully trained and supported throughout this transition period. 

Odyssey provides the Occupational Health and Safety team, as well as departments working with ionising radiation, with enhanced visibility of the University’s radioactive sources and the radioactive waste generated across the university. This improvement will lead to better management and reporting of these critical items, ensuring that we maintain the highest standards of safety and compliance.  Furthermore, the new system will also record machines and equipment related to ionising radiation work, further streamlining processes and ensuring comprehensive records. 

Cority, the new Occupational Health Management System, is now live 

The new occupational health management system, Cority, went live in December 2024 and is now receiving data from PeopleXD to ensure personal and contact information are up-to-date. All emails and reports sent from the UOHS team are now generated and sent directly from within the new Occupational Health system. Following a period of reduced clinics to allow the team to adapt to the use of the new system, the Occupational Health Service is now running full clinics once more. This new system modernises how Occupational Health is managed at Oxford University and brings us in line with government legislation around Health surveillance. 

Related links

 

More news

 

Share this