Institutional Data Strategy

The University of Toronto has built its Institutional Data Strategy around five strategic goals. Initiatives are identified and tied to improving institutional performance and outcomes, while incrementally introducing new data and analytics capabilities, technologies, and policies to support those initiatives.

Institutional Data Strategy Goals

Institutional data and analytics services will produce high quality and trusted data.

We will aim to:

  • Manage and value our data as institutional assets
  • Provide curated ‘analytics-ready’ institutional data sets for broad use by units
  • Inform decision-making using the highest quality, fit-for-purpose data
  • Provide metadata to ensure that data meaning is consistent across the institution

 

Institutional data will be shared appropriately and securely across the University and with our partners (includes researchers, vendors, government) to inform decision-making.

We will aim to:

  • Ensure processes and criteria for accessing institutional data are transparent, consistent, and equitable
  • Apply security controls to ensure people have appropriate access to the right data
  • Ensure data are accessible to authorized users when and where required
  • Implement auditing processes to monitor access to and uses of data

 

The University will adopt advances in data and analytics technologies and capabilities to meet its current and future needs.

We will aim to:

  • Evaluate new and updated technologies in terms of their feasibility and scalability to support units’ data and analytics requirements
  • Realize institutional efficiencies through collective acquisition and access to institution-wide tools (e.g., storage/integration, reporting, business intelligence, analytics)
  • Align data and analytics technology requirements with the University’s broader IT strategy

 

The University will empower its data community with the tools and the means to enable them to actively contribute to the changes needed to realize effective data-informed decision-making.

We will aim to:

  • Encourage and recognize data-informed decision-making for strategic and operational purposes
  • Formally engage our data and analytics community to promote sharing of knowledge and establish common data and analytics solutions and standards
  • Implement institutional learning and development opportunities to improve data literacy across the spectrum of data and analytics-related roles
  • Design our data and analytics operating model such that staffing, and services are optimized to support divisional partners in achieving their goals through the better use of data

 

The University will foster the trust of all those who interact with institutional data.

We will aim to:

  • Promote transparency in the collection, processing, and use of our institutional data
  • Involve affected parties in the development of data policy and use initiatives
  • Promote a culture of responsible use of data among all those who work with institutional data

 

Institutional Data Strategy Governance Structures

Oversight and guidance of U of T’s Institutional Data Strategy falls under the mandate of the Institutional Data Strategy Steering Committee. The Steering Committee oversees the work of two Councils: a Data Governance Council and a Reporting & Analytics Council. The Steering Committee and Councils have broad representation from academic and shared service units and bring a comprehensive array of skills and perspectives to developing the University’s approach to data governance, reporting and analytics.

The IRDG office is responsible for delivering and monitoring the Institutional Data Strategy, in collaboration with other delivery partners and the broader data and analytics community through working groups.