SDU IT and SDU Digital join forces

Two weeks ago, University Director Thomas Buchvald Vind presented his thoughts on merging SDU Digital and SDU IT into a single area in the Central Administration. The considerations were prompted by the fact that the head of SDU IT, Jacob-Steen Madsen, has accepted a new job at DKCERT and that SDU is facing further technological changes in the years ahead. The University Director wanted to engage in dialogue with the organisation before making his decision. Read more HERE.

A unified digital space

Following dialogues with managers in SDU Digital and SDU IT, union representatives and the faculties’ heads of secretariat, the University Director has now made the final decision to merge SDU IT and SDU Digital into a joint area in the Central Administration as of 1 June 2024.

‘First and foremost, I would like to thank you for great and insightful dialogues. These have demonstrated that both SDU IT and SDU Digital have many skilled and committed employees and managers who deliver great value and service to the University. The digital organisation consisting of SDU IT and SDU Digital, launched on 1 April 2020, has already seen a positive development and taken on important tasks in the University’s digital transformation and operations. In other words, the time is ripe to take a further step in merging the two areas into a joint area in the Central Administration,’ says University Director Thomas Buchvald Vind.

A new unified area will continue to focus on the five pillars of the digital organisation: User-centricity, Responsiveness, Coherence, Competence awareness and Robust foundations.

With a new unified digital area, the University will be better equipped to adopt new technological opportunities such as AI and utilise the functionality of the University’s extensive portfolio of different systems and digital solutions. It will also provide better opportunities to assemble the right teams of employees with different skill sets when the University needs to implement large, complex tasks in terms of new systems, information security and transformation. At the same time, a shared digital area will allow for a swifter implementation of new technologies for the benefit of users and the University.

Head of the digital area

With the establishment of the new joint digital area in the Central Administration, the University Director has also decided that Bue Raun Andersen, currently Head of Division for SDU Digital, will become the responsible head of division. Since 1 April 2020, Bue Raun Andersen has been head of division for SDU Digital and together with Jacob-Steen Madsen, Head of Division for SDU IT, has formed the joint management of the University’s digital organisation.

- I am delighted that Bue Raun Andersen has agreed to head the new digital area. Bue has great insight into SDU’s and the university sector’s digital transformation, and he has taken great responsibility over the past four years to develop the University’s digital capabilities and capacity. Bue is a highly visionary, competent and inclusive leader who, in dialogue with managers and employees, will be able to build on the excellent conditions in SDU IT and SDU Digital. I look forward to the continued collaboration with Bue and have every confidence that he, together with the other managers in SDU IT and SDU Digital, can shape the new digital area at SDU, says University Director Thomas Buchvald Vind.

As of 1 June 2024, Bue Raun Andersen will be responsible for both SDU Digital and SDU IT. The changes as of 1 June 2024 do not incur any changes to the salary and terms of employment of other managers and employees in SDU IT or SDU Digital.

Bue Raun Andersen will initiate a process where managers and employees in SDU IT and SDU Digital are involved in shaping the new digital area at SDU. Bue Raun Andersen is not expected to be able to announce more information about the new digital area, including its new name, until autumn 2024. Until then, the names SDU IT and SDU Digital will remain.

‘SDU is in the midst of and facing many changes. Digitalisation is a natural element in supporting the changes and providing completely new opportunities for SDU. As a unified digital organisation, we must succeed in effectively and rapidly delivering quality digital solutions and skills on a solid foundation of user-centric operations and a strong focus on information security. Fortunately, we are well placed to develop this further in a single digital organisation. We need to put experiences from our current organisation into play, combined with new knowledge and great ambitions for how digitalisation creates value for SDU. I therefore look forward to a dialogue with employees and managers in SDU IT and SDU Digital as well as with the users of our services in months ahead,’ says Bue Raun Andersen, Head of Division for SDU Digital.