The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) has found a CIO following a five-month search. Christine Burns, the current head of IT at Ashurst law firm (formerly known as Blake Dawson) has been appointed the university’s new CIO to oversee 200 IT staff, and will report to UTS deputy vice-chancellor (corporate services), Anne Dwyer, who held the role about seven years ago when it was then known as just head of IT. In addition, she will be responsible for developing an information technology strategy for UTS to manage the exponential growth of “intensive nature of technology and data at the university”. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe Burns, who was one of six short-listed candidates, will start in the newly created role mid-June this year. Dwyer told CIO Australia that Burns was chosen for her experience, approach and enthusiasm to work in the higher education sector, particularly with UTS. “I think that she already has a strong engagement with the very exciting and challenging strategic agenda that we have set for ourselves at UTS,” she said. “Christine has the capability to engage well with our teaching and learning and research leaders, and to develop new models of support and sourcing strategies for this shifting environment together with our current IT management team.” The university re-created the role due to the “explosion” of ICT projects at UTS, Dwyer said in March 2012, and is part of a $1 billion upgrade to the university over five or six years which began in 2009. UTS is currently “dabbling” in Cloud computing, revamping its current Web presence and plans for its new wireless strategy are underway. “The new CIO will also be involved in a major overhaul of how we go about our logistics and timetabling,” Dwyer said. “They really need to operate on a high scale as the team is already working on these things all the time but it’s a big step up in terms of blowing out the e-research and the massive data management we need to do. Follow Diana Nguyen on Twitter: @diananguyen9 Follow CIO Australia on Twitter: @CIO_Australia Related content opinion The changing face of cybersecurity threats in 2023 Cybersecurity has always been a cat-and-mouse game, but the mice keep getting bigger and are becoming increasingly harder to hunt. By Dipti Parmar Sep 29, 2023 8 mins Cybercrime Security brandpost Should finance organizations bank on Generative AI? Finance and banking organizations are looking at generative AI to support employees and customers across a range of text and numerically-based use cases. By Jay Limbasiya, Global AI, Analytics, & Data Management Business Development, Unstructured Data Solutions, Dell Technologies Sep 29, 2023 5 mins Artificial Intelligence brandpost Embrace the Generative AI revolution: a guide to integrating Generative AI into your operations The CTO of SAP shares his experiences and learnings to provide actionable insights on navigating the GenAI revolution. By Juergen Mueller Sep 29, 2023 4 mins Artificial Intelligence feature 10 most in-demand generative AI skills Gen AI is booming, and companies are scrambling to fill skills gaps by hiring freelancers to make the most of the technology. These are the 10 most sought-after generative AI skills on the market right now. By Sarah K. White Sep 29, 2023 8 mins Hiring Generative AI IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe