Transforming Oxford's Digital Communications Programme

Page last updated: 14 August 2025

This programme will create new, world-class web and intranet platform solutions driven by user needs and capable of adapting and evolving with the University.  

Our new platforms will prioritise security, scalability and accessibility, ensuring that they meet the full spectrum of our requirements. By adhering to core principles of simplicity and clarity, we’ll provide excellent digital experiences for all our internal and external audiences, making them feel more connected and informed, and safeguarding the University's global reputation. 

This will ensure all our audiences - staff, students and external visitors - can find information, access online services, and keep up to date on what’s happening across the University, and ultimately support our academic mission. 

Latest News

Programme: 

• We recently hosted a programme update briefing for all Mosaic users. Thank you to everyone who joined and shared questions. We look forward to more opportunities to engage with you in the future.  
  • Missed the session? Access the recording of the programme update, and/or the slides. 
• Our FAQs page has recently been updated, and we encourage you to use it as a first stop for any questions you may have. The page is continuously updated and will evolve alongside the programme to keep you informed. 

Fresco: 

• The initial release of Fresco has now taken place, and pioneers have begun trialling the migration process 
• The Fresco roadmap has been updated, indicating future development goals of the platform. 

Oxweb: 

• Oxweb site build continues, and the team is focusing on content preparation and planning to enable migration starting in Michaelmas term. Site launch is planned for March 2026. 

OxIntranet:

• The migration of content onto OxIntranet is now underway for initial roll-out ahead of Michaelmas term. 

Migration:

• A Pre-Migration Checklist has been created to help Mosaic site owners for a smoother migration process to Fresco down the line and to improve user experience. 
• Mosaic site owners have been emailed directly with information about recommended pre-migration activities. The team will be in touch again as planning progresses to confirm your migration tranche and answer any questions you may have.

Why are we doing this? 

Effective and impactful communications with staff, students and the public are critical to digital transformation at Oxford. To achieve this, we need to transform our communications platforms and approach. 

Transforming our platforms and content will improve the quality and effectiveness of our communications. It will also improve the experience for content creators, with easier to use tools and clearer processes. 

The platforms

To transform Oxford's digital communications, we're developing three platforms: Fresco and Oxweb for external content, and OxIntranet for internal content. To help understand where everything will sit in the new structure, access a visual representation of the programme.

OxIntranet:

OxIntranet will be Oxford’s new University-wide intranet, bringing together all the internal information staff and students need to work and study in one secure, SSO-protected platform. Everything will be underpinned by up-to-date people data, so that news, resources and announcements can be targeted to the right audiences, like your department, college or division. In the future, we’ll also invest in email and other internal communication tools to further improve how information is shared across Oxford. Find out more: Intranet and internal communications project 

Fresco:

Oxford Fresco, our new web Content Management System (CMS) platform, will be a secure and versatile platform for the majority of public-facing content at the University. It will enable easy and secure publishing with flexible tools, replacing the existing solution, Mosaic, which goes out of support in 2026. Oxford Fresco aims to enhance the digital experience for hundreds of creators and the audiences who use our websites. Find out more: Oxford Fresco 

Oxweb:

Oxweb, the University's main website, will be migrating to a new build based on a more up to date, secure platform. In the first instance, only external-facing, Oxford-wide content will be included on Oxweb. Departmental sites will be migrated to Fresco, and we will work hard to ensure content and visual alignment with the main University site. Oxweb and Fresco sites will be aligned using a common design library and aligned governance and content approaches to ensure a consistent and familiar feel across platforms. 

Navigating between platforms:

Content for external audiences will continue to be published online, and we are working closely with our web teams to ensure it is easy to reach Oxintranet content from the University website.  This will include staff and student gateways, directing staff and students to commonly used content on OxIntranet. 

Making the change

Migration

Moving our content to the new platforms will be a large undertaking, and the Migration Project will ensure this critical activity receives the level of attention needed. The roll out will occur between Michaelmas term 2025 and Michaelmas term 2026, with content currently hosted on Mosaic being prioritised for migration. This is because these sites are built on technology that is going out of support.  

The Migration Project is working hand-in-hand with the Fresco, OxIntranet and Oxweb development teams to enable migration to take place in a smooth and timely way. 

A variety of support will be available to help site owners through the process — including auto-migration of Mosaic content (for non-UAS sites), a migration toolkit, and hands-on assistance where resources allow. Site owners will be responsible for reviewing their migrated content prior to go-live.  

More information about the Migration Project can be found on the Migration Project page. 

Content

Oxford's Digital Content Strategy outlines how we will publish, organise, manage and govern content - informing how we manage content across our platforms, both internally and externally. It is a live document, designed to support our needs around digital content. It will evolve as platforms and governance become more established, but the principles articulated will remain the same.  

This includes establishing principles for content, and ways of managing and refreshing it over time. It also outlines how we plan to publish content across web and internal platforms, to ensure relevant information is available to internal and external audiences. 

The strategy has been developed collaboratively with input from communications staff and other key stakeholders around the University, and the latest draft has received positive feedback. We would welcome any feedback you may have. 

Skills and capacity

To enable the flexibility and scalability of the University’s communications platforms, we are working to build skills and capability across our teams, including the successful recruitment of a Web Experience Manager and an Intranet Manager.

We’ve also launched the Content Network, a supportive community of those working on websites, intranets and digital content across the University. For more information on training and resources available, please see the Digital Content pages on the Communications Hub. 

Platform and content governance

Ongoing, joined-up oversight is in place to ensure the new platforms remain effective and well-supported. A governance framework is being developed in collaboration with colleagues across the University and will be rolled out alongside the platforms. 

A Programme Board, with representation from all divisions, colleges, GLAM and UAS, is overseeing the programme to ensure it meets the needs of the whole University. The group, chaired by Social Sciences Divisional Registrar David White, reports to the Dissemination and Engagement Portfolio, chaired by GLAM Director Richard Ovenden. 

More information 

We are committed to providing regular updates about the programme and these pages will be updated on a regular basis with the latest information. 

Briefings 

Since December 2023, we have been running briefing sessions for current Mosaic users. Copies of the slide packs and recordings of presentations are available on the Web CMS project page. 

You can also access the recording of the recent programme update, and/or the slides. 

• NOTE: If you're based in Saïd Business School, you’ll need to make sure you're signed in with your Nexus account (format: SSO@ox.ac.uk). If you're logged into Office365 using your SBS credentials, the links may not work until you switch accounts. Generic guidance for how to log into the Nexus Service can be found in the getting started guide. If you have any further difficulty, you will need to contact IT Services directly.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Please see our recently updated Frequently Asked Questions that cover the Transforming Digital Communications Programme and the individual projects. 

Contact 

If you are unable to find the information you want in our Frequently Asked Questions, please email us: transformingdigitalcommsprogramme@it.ox.ac.uk.