Changes in research tools and methodologies in many disciplines and professions have resulted from the spread of information technology throughout the disciplines. Changes in the patterns and methods of collaboration among scholars, across disciplines and in widely dispersed geographic locations, make new demands on communication and information technologies. New methods of communication among students, faculty, administration and staff bring vast potential but also raise complicated issues of access, security, and privacy. To achieve a position of leadership, Indiana University must implement an effective strategic plan for the use of information technology in research and academic computing, teaching and learning, and administrative support. This plan must recognize the inevitability and ubiquity, but also the unpredictability, of the spreading use of information technology in higher education.
Information technology is in a state of rapid change.
No one would have predicted where we are now five years ago, and there is no reason to suppose we can predict with certainty where technology will be in another five years. For this reason, flexibility and experimentation should guide every phase of information technology planning and implementation. Indeed, flexibility and experimentation are so important that these might well be guiding principles for this entire plan. Unique pioneering Enterprise License Agreement with the Microsoft Corporation that provides Microsoft software to all faculty, staff and students at IU for office and home for the next four years. Leadership in high performance computing and advances in virtual reality technologies, with support from the University, private industry, and government agencies.