UBC is a global leader for research and innovation, funding over 8,800 research projects across the university*. Many of these projects require advanced research computing technology and involve big data, large computational power, modelling or visualization that cannot be handled by standard computing infrastructure.

In 2015, Advanced Research Computing (ARC) was established as a joint initiative between the Vice-President Research & Innovation Office and the Provost and Vice-President Academic Office. ARC is an institutionally dedicated service, which helps researchers who have large data and computational needs.

Dr. John Tyson, Senior Research Associate, Snutch Labe, Michael Smith Laboratories & Djavad Mowafahgian Centre for Brain Health, says the compute system and technical support from ARC has been invaluable to his research, which focuses on cutting edge DNA nanopore sequencing. Nanopore sequencing is a fourth-generation process of identifying the precise order or sequence of the building block proteins within a DNA molecule.

“This resource has enabled timely analysis of very large data sets resulting in valuable data for our ongoing research program. Continued support from ARC has allowed our focus to remain on the projects in question and not on software or “technology” maintenance. It’s valuable indeed.”

At the Djavad Mowafahgian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH) ARC provided flexible computer and storage resources for the centre’s unique needs. Following consultations with DMCBH stakeholders, ARC re-architected and re-purposed the infrastructure to deliver a platform for high performance computing workloads and big data analytics, two additional capabilities in the toolsets used for brain health research.

Steve Cundy, Director of Advanced Research Computing says UBC’s ARC is differentiated from other similar units at different institutions because the team “is uniquely comprised of technology, discipline specific, data, and privacy experts to deliver on the four core commitments of ARC.”

• Enhance access to leading digital research infrastructure
• Empower researchers in all disciplines
• Foster an environment that promotes innovation and discovery
• Form partnerships with government, industry, and research service providers around the world to ensure researchers have access to state-of-the-art digital research infrastructure

*https://www.ubc.ca/about/facts.html

UBC Studios helped Vantage College create a 360-degree video tour that brings the Point Grey campus alive interactively for viewers anywhere in the world.

Produced collaboratively by Vantage College and UBC Studios offshoot Emerging Media Lab, the virtual tour embraces innovation to create an informative and engaging piece of digital media for the university that also helped establish best practices for future 360 video productions.

Prospective students and their families want to have an opportunity to envision their place of learning and the confidence to make a big move for their education, even when they aren’t able to visit in person.

Sukh Jhangri, the Manager of International Recruitment and Marketing at Vantage College says, “Our goal was to see how we could utilize this new technology to bring the campus to the living room so those students could experience the campus as close as they can without actually being here.”

The video was created with the intent to show it in multiple ways, including YouTube. An ideal manner to enjoy the video is using Google Cardboard, an inexpensive goggle-type viewer that employs a smart phone to play a 360-degree video file.

The video has been viewed nearly 15,000 times across 51 countries, and has been widely shared as an introduction for potential students, staff, and faculty to the Vancouver campus.

“The 360 video itself is our proof of concept,” says Kirk Karasin, a Media Specialist at UBC Studios. “We know the workflow we know the technology and we know the strengths and limitations of the system.” A similar video of the UBC-Okanagan campus is nearing completion, and the project leaders are finding new ways to be creative in the space.

Brian Wilson, Curriculum Manager, Vantage College says, “We want to ensure that there’s always a teaching and learning component. We are always finding innovative ways of orienting students to content.” For example a student might receive a Cardboard as part of the recruitment process and subsequently use that Cardboard for viewing landscapes in a Geography class.

To view the video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEB8SgzFknQ

Audio Visual (AV) system upgrades open up opportunities for new kinds of learning. UBC’s Audio Visual staff in IT helped implement versatile technology-enabled learning spaces in the University Centre Lower Level Building (UCLL) and Orchard Commons.

The key drivers of these classroom redesign initiatives included the importance of flexible, open spaces to encourage active engagement, collaborative peer learning, and group work — all hallmarks of active learning pedagogy. Active learning is an approach to instruction in which students engage the material they study through reading, writing, talking, listening, and reflecting collaboratively.

Patrick Walls, an instructor in the Department of Mathematics, teaches the UBC Scientific Software Seminar (UBCS3), which helps students, graduates, postdocs, and faculty develop software skills for science. In a traditional classroom, teaching programming can be a challenge because students may be unable to see every letter, comma, colon, or space in the code when it’s projected onto a single screen, and each character matters. Additionally, traditional classrooms are set up to support student-to-instructor communication, rather than peer collaboration.

UCLL classrooms are general use classrooms that can accommodate up to 48 students and each room has a unique configuration. For example UCLL 109 has been converted to a studio lab, configured with group stations, and equipped with state of the art AV technology that allows students to work collaboratively in groups.

“I love teaching programming in UCLL109,” says Walls. “The wireless screen sharing system allows me move around the room with my machine and answer questions. Each group table includes a large monitor so that the code is clearly displayed to each student and easy to follow. The group tables also facilitate collaboration between participants. We can all read, write and share code in a collaborative environment!”

In Orchard Commons, a mixed-use residential, academic, and administrative hub, classrooms were equipped with interactive instructor displays, wireless video presentations, digital white boards, and digitally enabled group workspaces.

These project upgrades at UCLL and Orchard Commons were undertaken as part of the larger UBC strategic plan and with the planning efforts of Infrastructure Development.

At UBC, the teaching and learning landscape includes classroom-based learning, blended courses, and online learning. Technology is a crucial component of course delivery in each of these areas. When faculty and staff require functional and technical support delivering course materials to the more than 62,000 students enrolled at UBC, they can turn to the Learning Technology Hub (LT Hub).

LT Hub is a collaborative project between UBC Information Technology and the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) that launched in 2014. The Hub offers a drop in site for providing one-on-one support to staff and faculty who want help with anything technology-related to support their work at UBC, including:

• Learning to use software applications;
• Designing a course;
• Finding a technological solution to a pedagogical problem;
• Or, troubleshooting issues on a just-in-time basis.

This year, building on the success in the LT Hub around support, planning was initiated to expand service delivery to include system administration and the development of learning tools.

"The LT Hub is a very valuable resource for UBC faculty members who are often working to tight deadlines. Having ready access to help with the range of resources supported by the hub has been enormously useful and, quite frankly, stress relieving. The model works well, with very knowledgeable people and impressive response times,” says Joseph Anthony, Clinical Professor Physical Therapy.

Additionally, co-locating LT Hub staff has supported greater levels of collaboration and communication and made it easier for them to provide seamless support across technical and pedagogical areas, proving the adage that the sum can be greater than its parts.

“There is greater visibility for staff to see requests for help through to resolution and this has meant a greater sense of purpose in their work,” says Derek White, Senior Manager, Learning Applications, Integrations and Analytics, CTLT.

Future plans for LT Hub include expanding the scope of learning tools, technology, and services that are supported, with an emphasis on fostering innovation in the Learning Technology space.

For more information on the LT Hub, please visit www.lthub.ubc.ca

“The need for data to inform decision making is increasingly prevalent,” says Marcela Hernandez, Chief Data Officer.

At UBC a great deal of data is collected in different initiatives for different purposes, but the current data environment was inconsistently defined, managed and governed. Additional concerns around data ownership, access, definitions, privacy and storage helped reinforce support for a new data governance framework that will take a holistic approach to the collection, protection and use of data across campus.

In recognizing the need to coordinate data across campus, the Office of the CIO obtained executive support to develop a data governance strategy and implementation plan for UBC. This included the creation of an institutional data steward role to lead the initiative. Hernandez recently moved from the Planning and Institutional Research Office (PAIR) to assume the Chief Data Officer role under the Office of the CIO, where the vantage point to work in a portfolio with cross-campus responsibility under the Provost is advantageous.

“We need to have confidence in the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the data that we use,” says Dr. Pam Ratner, Vice-Provost for Enrolment and Academic Facilities. “To achieve good quality data, we must have systems and processes in place. Everyone who relies on data needs to have a shared understanding of what the data represents.”

“Data governance requires support from all stakeholders across campus,” says Hernandez. “Our strategy strengthens UBC’s ability to report accurately to stakeholders such as the provincial government and accreditation agencies.”

UBC is one of the first Canadian universities to implement a coordinated approach to managing data and only a few U.S. institutions have also done so, including Stanford and Berkeley. At the time of this Annual Report, a number of cross-campus committees have begun work under Hernandez to examine data governance, guidelines and standards and explore the technology needed to implement and support better data practices.

Several teams in IT and Media and Classroom services at the UBC Okanagan campus were essential in ensuring the 2016 royal visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went flawlessly.

The Duke and Duchess attended a public ceremony dedicating a new Aboriginal art installation as well as a visit with UBC students to watch an inter-squad game with the UBC Okanagan Heat women’s volleyball team.

UBC Studios Okanagan Producer Gideon Dante says it was a team effort from the IT department behind the scenes that ensured the event went off without a hitch. “The infrastructure and emerging technology departments helped us problem solve creative solutions and helped us to put on a great show for UBC, the greater community, as well as the eight thousand people from around the world who watched the stream on UBC’s website.”

Prior to the visit, Web Services built a ticket registration system that permitted current UBC students to access free tickets to the match using a secure login based on their student accounts. More than 1,400 tickets were distributed to UBC students to attend the historic event on campus.

During the visit, the UBC Studios Okanagan team oversaw the unprecedented UBCO livestream broadcast to two jumbo screens on campus and on the UBC Okanagan website. Significantly, the cameras for the livestream feed were used for broadcast to Global Television and the National Broadcasting Pool.

The UBC IT Infrastructure Team created an additional secured network for the video production, ensuring broadcast quality access for the livestreaming event, while also monitoring wireless and wired networks to support increased demand.

More than 8,600 viewers from across the world tuned in simultaneously to watch the event live. To date, almost 12,000 people have viewed the recording of the event on YouTube. (Watch the video)

“We know what we are capable of now,” says Rosemary-Jean Thompson, Manager, UBC Studios Okanagan Campus. “Because we added some technical infrastructure for this event we will have more flexibility on our campus to offer live event filming and streaming from various locations in the future.”

At UBC, faculty and staff are responsible for a substantial amount of personal information about students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors. Prudent handling of private information is essential for protecting the individuals who have trusted UBC with their private information as well as the reputation of the university.

To elevate privacy and information security awareness across UBC, the Privacy and Information Security Management (PrISM) program launched an initiative called Privacy Matters @ UBC as a joint effort between UBC IT and Risk Management Services.

The challenge was to communicate across the entire campus to a faculty and staff population of more than 15,000.

Gerald Vanderwoude, Assistant Dean, Facilities and Human Resources, Faculty of Arts has been a visible training champion and an ardent promoter of the training resources available for faculty and staff.

Vanderwoude says the 14,000 students in the Faculty of Arts and those who came before and will come next are the key reasons for his advocacy, because they deserve to have their data protected.

“Privacy is important. It’s a comparatively small effort of about 20 minutes to look at training videos compared with thousands of hours parents have spent protecting their kids.”

All faculty and staff may access training materials at the website as simple, entertaining animated videos. Content from this initiative is created in an engaging and approachable manner that encourages people to participate, learn, and share the responsibility of protecting UBC data.

“The Privacy Matters website is informative, easy to read and understand and provides a great level of detail from new to experienced users.”

After the initial launch of the website in November, more than 2,000 faculty and staff completed the training in the first three months. Since that time, eleven departments across campus have accomplished an 80% completion rate, and among those departments, five are now over 90% completion.

Vanderwoude says that change in culture takes time and dedication to repeating encouraging messages. “It’s like the approach of the crosswalk – if you keep mentioning the crosswalk and keep using the crosswalk eventually people will say ‘let’s use the crosswalk.’”