We want to deliver world-class IT and digitalization

• We are professional, have a good handle on our operations and development, provide responsive and renowned support and value our collegial team.

Together we are building the digital university

• We inspire AAU and we think and deliver 'digital first' so that AAU succeeds in digitalizing research, education and PBL, knowledge collaboration and administration and services.

We are all guides in IT and digitalization

• Through our professionalism and behaviour, we take responsibility for our own areas and have an eye for the entirety of ITS and AAU.

Our vision in the ITS organisation

• AAU uses digitalization ambitiously and actively to support overall strategies and realize strategic goals.
• Digitalization is used as a significant means to enhance quality and strengthen the distinctive features of the core activities.
• Digital developments are actively used to strengthen innovation and renewal, so that AAU stays strong and attractive within research, education and knowledge collaboration.

We create value for AAU, while together we develop and thrive in it

• Involvement and inclusion
• Openness, honesty and transparency
• Accountability and constructive mindset
• Trust, respect and loyalty
• Courage and power to act

Principles for IT and digitalization of AAU

1. AAU uses digitalization as an opportunity to rethink its core tasks.
2. Users are always at the centre of the development of new digitalization - and new digitalization aimed at the core tasks must always create value for the core tasks. Systems are intuitive, user-friendly and accessible to all users.
3. Researchers, lecturers, students, alumni and other stakeholders can see and experience the added value of AAU's digitalization - we are not digitalizing for digitalization's sake.
4. AAU ensures the necessary digital support based on the digitalization strategy, thereby meeting the needs and expectations described in the digitalization strategy. Researchers, lecturers, students and other stakeholders who have specific needs will provide the necessary tools locally.
5. AAU wants a secure and efficient digitalization. The use of technology is therefore assessed in terms of a central 'green, yellow and red list' for technology maturity*:

   • Green = Recommended and centrally supported solution in active management.

   • Yellow = Solution that is not centrally supported, is in passive management or is being phased out in the short term

   • Red = Solution should not be used, e.g. due to phasing out or security implications

6. AAU has a proximity principle in digitalization. This means that the guidance on digitalization should be as close as possible to researchers, lecturers, students and other stakeholders.
7. AAU ensures sustainable competence development in digitalization. This means that competences that are important for everyone and that are difficult to ensure a professional environment for decentrally at faculties and departments are recruited centrally.
8. AAU ensures that all employees can collaborate with anyone, at any time and across the up-to-date digital platforms used by collaborators.
9. Where possible, the same task should be solved using the same process and the same IT system. This means, among other things, that IT systems are continuously consolidated. AAU actively works to ensure that there are no parallel IT systems used to perform the same work task or support similar processes.
10. The process owner is responsible for the digitalization of the entire process and for ensuring that the digitalization is carried out with the involvement of relevant stakeholders. The process owner is organizationally anchored where the professional knowledge of the process is greatest or where the benefits are primarily found. The relevant organizational unit at AAU allocates the process owner to the relevant digitalization initiatives, e.g. to the initiatives in the digitalization strategy.
11. AAU wants data to be accurate and shareable across units and systems. Data is recorded at its source, i.e. where data is naturally born, updated in one place and used in many places**.
12. Digitalization is done using common public solutions where possible, then industry solutions (university common solutions) and then standard solutions. Only exceptionally is digitalization done by in-house development at AAU.
13. The choice of IT solutions is based on common public standards and architecture principles.
14. In procurement and development, both open source and commercial technologies must always be assessed.

* At this time, such a list has not been developed

**See also AAU principles for master data in the Master Data Management strategy