My greatest concern as CIO is to enable everyone in the campus community to use technology. It does not make sense, Griffiths said, to take the time to check the weather on a Web site before going to a meeting rather than just looking out a window. But a person with bad handwriting using a word processor to type a letter is using technology productively. To effectively use technology, users must consider ease of use.
Technology needs to be used wisely with the end goal in mind.
Technology must not sacrifice accuracy. A person setting up a meeting with multiple participants may not be able to ascertain the earliest available date by doing an electronic search in a calendar-maker program. Griffiths said many people using such programs block off chunks of time for low-priority activities during which they might actually be available for a meeting if it is higher priority. However, it might be cost-effective to give reference librarians tasks that require complex IT searches. At the U-M, IT guiding principles are contribution, community, equity and diversity.