During the sabbatical leave of the University CIO, Mrs. Brigitte Collins, from August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024, Mr. Nazir Alladin, the Campus CIO at St. Augustine, served as acting University CIO, while Mr. Locksley James, Senior IT Officer, took on the role of Head of the Office of the University CIO.

The Cross-Campus Moodle platform experienced a 24% increase in usage, catering to a growing number of courses, including a Sign Language course that enrolled over 500 participants. This shared learning management system facilitated online examinations and supported the Faculty of Medical Sciences’ course in Evidence-Based Medicine and ongoing high-stakes assessments for MBBS and DM programmes. Collaboration with the Global Campus technical team enabled significant enhancements, including integrating Turnitin for plagiarism detection and Respondus for online proctoring during exams.

Additionally, Microsoft SharePoint played a critical role in enhancing collaboration across campuses. It served as a centralized document management and communication platform, streamlining workflows and improving information accessibility. SharePoint’s effectiveness in supporting executive and cross-campus meetings contributed to operational efficiency and bolstered the ability to work seamlessly across different locations.

In alignment with evolving data handling practices, the OUCIO revised the University’s 2016 policy on the Use of Electronic Mail. The updated policy emphasized the importance of email as a university record and was approved by the University Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GPC) in February 2024, following extensive stakeholder engagement.

On the cybersecurity front, the cross-campus team led by the OUCIO completed the evaluation and rollout of SentinelOne, an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution, across the UWI. This new security solution enhances the University’s ability to detect and respond to potential threats, offering greater visibility into suspicious activities while ensuring compliance with industry standards. By replacing the previous Symantec platform, SentinelOne also provided significant cost savings and improved response times to security incidents, reducing risks and safeguarding critical data.

The OUCIO conducted Cybersecurity Awareness Campaigns in late October 2023, with over 50 participants attending sessions to increase awareness of cybersecurity threats and safe online practices. These initiatives have helped foster a culture of security awareness among staff, reducing the likelihood of breaches caused by human error and enhancing The UWI’s overall IT risk management strategy.

During the reporting period, the IT team focused on the One UWI email rollout, which included migrating staff email to the new @ uwi.edu domain within the cloud-based Microsoft 365 environment. This transition had been in process for some time, and significant progress was made to complete the migration.

Accomplishments included migrating all staff to the new domain, developing the Business Intelligence Data Exchange (BIDX) for secure data exchanges to facilitate email creation, and implementing the Email Arbitrator, designed to automate email management tasks.

These initiatives collectively reflect The UWI’s commitment to enhancing its IT infrastructure, improving collaboration, and strengthening security measures across its campuses while focusing on future growth and adaptability in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.