IT Strategic Plan: 2026-2031

A message from Gregory Smith, Chief Information Officer (CIO)

It is a privilege to share the University of Waterloo’s IT Strategic Plan for the years ahead. This plan marks an important step as the University responds to ongoing technological change, rising expectations for digital services, and evolving institutional needs. At its core is a simple principle: technology must be a strategic asset that strengthens Waterloo’s distinctiveness and enables a seamless, empowering experience for our community.

The IT Strategic Plan was developed through broad consultation across the University, including faculty and staff from academic units, student representatives, distributed IT and IST teams, senior administrative leaders, and CIOs from peer institutions across Canada. More than 100 voices shared their insights, aspirations, and concerns. We heard a clear call for a unified “One Waterloo” IT culture; stronger governance and institutional leadership; sustained investment in people; and a stable, modern technology foundation that supports both our clients, and those advancing computing itself.

From these conversations, four consistent drivers emerged: advancing a unified institutional approach to IT; delivering a seamless and integrated user experience; strengthening governance, cybersecurity, and data practices; and preparing the University to responsibly leverage innovation and emerging technologies. This plan reflects those priorities while positioning IT as a strategic partner in the University’s long-term success.

I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this plan. Your candour and perspectives shaped a strategy that is both ambitious and grounded. As we move forward, we will continue to engage the campus community as we implement plan objectives and measure progress.

Waterloo is an extraordinary institution - creative, rigorous, and community-minded. This strategy is an investment in that future. I am confident that, together, we will build an IT environment that strengthens our University and positions Waterloo for sustained leadership in the years ahead.


IT Vision


A seamless, user-centered IT experience supported by trusted data, a secure and resilient digital environment, and a connected IT community working together across Waterloo - ensuring that technology is reliable, responsive, and transformative in meeting the diverse needs of our university community.
 

Institutional Values


The University of Waterloo’s IT Strategy is grounded in the institution’s core values — Think differently, Act with Purpose, and Work Together. These values shape how we plan, build, and deliver technology; how we support our community; and how we work together as One Waterloo.
 

Think Differently

Unconventional | Bold | Innovative

Waterloo’s unconventional spirit drives our approach to technology. We challenge assumptions, test new possibilities, and welcome diverse perspectives. We innovate not for novelty, but to advance the University’s mission and respond to emerging needs with creativity and confidence.

For IT, Think Differently means embracing technologies that can transform teaching, research, and operations. It means encouraging experimentation—responsibly and thoughtfully—whether through AI integration, automation, homegrown tools, or new models of research support. It also means recognizing and supporting both communities: those who use computing to advance scholarship, and those who push the boundaries of computing itself.

This mindset keeps our IT environment modern, distinctive, and aligned with Waterloo’s identity as a leader in innovation.

Act with Purpose

Positive Impact | Responsible | We Get Things Done

Technology plays a central role in the University’s success. Acting with purpose ensures that our decisions are deliberate, ethical, and aligned with institutional priorities. We take responsibility for building systems and services that are secure, stable, accessible, and sustainable.

For IT, Act with Purpose means strengthening cybersecurity and data governance, modernizing core systems, and guiding technology adoption through clear standards and long-term planning. It means asking the right questions—What problem are we solving? Who benefits? What risks matter? —and delivering solutions that create tangible institutional value.

This value ensures we focus on outcomes that matter and follow through with discipline, transparency, and impact.

Work Together

Collaborative | Community | One Waterloo

Collaboration is one of Waterloo’s defining strengths. Our distributed IT model works best when IST, Faculty IT teams, academic leaders, researchers, and administrative partners operate as a coordinated ecosystem. Trust, communication, and shared purpose are essential to delivering a consistent digital experience across campus.

For IT, Work Together means advancing a One Waterloo culture. It means shared standards, integrated systems, and cross-unit partnerships that reduce duplication and strengthen services. It also means cultivating a thriving IT workforce—one that learns together, supports each other, and reflects our commitments to inclusion, equity, accessibility, and reconciliation.

This value ensures that technology is developed and delivered collaboratively, with the entire community in mind.

Strategic Drivers


Four key strategic drivers were identified: advancing a unified institutional approach to IT; delivering a seamless and integrated user experience; strengthening governance, cybersecurity, and data practices; and preparing the University to responsibly leverage emerging technologies. This plan reflects those priorities and positions IT as a strategic partner in the University’s long-term success.
 

One Waterloo

Stronger together as one IT community.

This strategic driver elevates our commitment to a unified IT culture grounded in trust, collaboration, and shared purpose. We will foster an engaged, diverse, and thriving IT workforce where people feel valued, supported, and recognized. By aligning central and distributed teams through a coordinated operating model, we will reduce duplication, clarify accountabilities, and create a seamless experience across Faculties and units. One Waterloo reflects our belief that technology leadership is most powerful when the community moves forward together — supporting each other, sharing expertise, and advancing the University’s mission collectively.

Strategic Directions and Objectives

Institutional IT Leadership and Accountability

Position the CIO as the institutional leader accountable for IT strategy, investments and outcomes, with ownership of institutional IT policies and standards and overall coordination of the delivery of IT for the University.

Unified IT Culture

Foster a “One Waterloo” IT culture built on trust, collaboration, and transparency by strengthening cross-campus relationships, clarifying shared accountabilities, and creating a shared identity across all IT units.

Unified Service Delivery & Operating Model

Implement a unified IT operating model that standardizes service tiers, defines central vs. local accountabilities, and aligns funding and performance measures — preserving embedded faculty engagement while eliminating duplication and variability in user experience.

Financial Sustainability and Value

Deliver IT more cost-effectively, while increasing transparency on IT spend and reinvesting savings into innovation, service quality, and institutional priorities.

Seamless and Integrated User Experience

Technology that meets people where they are.

This strategic driver focuses on delivering a unified digital experience that is intuitive, accessible, and consistent for students, faculty, staff, and researchers. We are committed to simplifying systems, modernizing platforms, and streamlining processes so that daily interactions “just work.” By transforming service delivery — improving agility, responsiveness, and quality—we will enhance the entire user journey from onboarding to graduation and beyond. Our aim is to remove friction, improve reliability, and strengthen the sense of connection and empowerment that technology provides across the University community.

Strategic Directions and Objectives

Seamless Digital Experience

Develop and implement a unified digital experience that integrates systems and services into intuitive, accessible workflows that ‘just work’ for students, faculty, and staff, ensuring consistency across platforms and reducing friction in daily interactions

Digital Modernization and Service Transformation

Advance digital modernization through simplification and automation, while transforming IT service delivery models to enhance user experience, reduce multiple service levels, and align common IT services around integrated, high-quality support.

System Transformation

Harmonize and align systems, platforms, processes, and data to reduce fragmentation, strengthen institutional coherence, and deliver efficient operations, reliable insights, and a consistent user experience.

Integrated IT Financial Framework

Develop an integrated and holistic institutional IT budget that focuses on transparency, alignment and building efficiencies across central and distributed units.

Innovation and Emerging Technologies

Creating space for ideas, discovery, and responsible advancement.

This strategic driver champions Waterloo’s spirit of innovation by enabling bold exploration and thoughtful adoption of emerging technologies. We will provide institutionally supported tools, training, and integration pathways that help our community teach, learn, research, and work in new ways. Through strong governance and ethical guidance, we will ensure that experimentation is responsible, transparent, and aligned with institutional values. By continuously evaluating and advancing our enterprise platforms, we empower Waterloo’s creators, disruptors, and innovators to shape the future of technology in the classroom, in research labs, and across campus operations.

Strategic Directions and Objectives

AI Enablement

Enable the use of AI across teaching, research, and administration by delivering institutionally supported tools, integrations, training, and support services.

Emerging Technologies

Create a process to evaluate and innovate on enterprise-wide institutional platforms to enhance the impact of current systems while focusing on affordability and aligning cost to institutional impact of systems and technologies.

Sustainability

Build an energy-efficient IT infrastructure and align long-term IT strategy with Waterloo’s climate action and sustainability commitments.

IT Governance, Cybersecurity, and Risk

A trusted, resilient, and accountable foundation.

This strategic driver strengthens the structures that protect and guide the University’s digital environment. We will implement clear, transparent IT governance that aligns decisions, investments, and priorities across academic and administrative domains. Our cybersecurity program will embed safe practices into everyday work, supported by continuous monitoring, preparedness, and shared accountability. Unified data governance will ensure that institutional data is trusted, secure, and actionable. Through financial sustainability, responsible risk management, and long-term planning, we will build a reliable IT foundation that is stable, secure, and ready for the future.

Strategic Directions and Objectives

Cyber Risk & Resilience

Strengthen Waterloo’s cyber risk posture that embeds security into everyday practices with shared accountability, continuous control monitoring, and tested incident response and recovery capabilities.

Data Governance and Management

Adopt a unified, institutional approach that ensures data is trusted, secure, and actionable “one-question, one-answer”, with clear ownership and access standards.

IT Governance

Implement a transparent IT governance model that establishes decision rights, integrates academic and administrative voices, and aligns IT priorities, funding, and risk decisions with institutional strategy.

AI Governance and Risk

Establish and maintain the institutional governance and enablement framework for AI, including relevant policies, standards, approval pathways, transparency and integrity requirements, and ongoing risk monitoring.

Our Commitments


The strategic framework highlights our two commitments: People and Operational Excellence.
 

People

We invest in a diverse and skilled IT community where people feel valued and supported. By developing talent, encouraging collaboration, and embracing growth and retention, we strengthen the people who deliver IT at Waterloo.

Operational Excellence

We deliver reliable, flexible IT services that meet the University’s needs. Through continuous improvement and efficiency, we modernize IT, ensuring technology consistently supports teaching, research, and operations across Waterloo.


Timeline
 

  1. 2025
    1. Apr
      1. April – June 2025 - Strategy Process Planning

        Defined the overall approach, timeline and engagement plan for developing the IT strategy.

    2. Jul
      1. July – Sept 2025 – Strategy Exploration

        Engaged 148 academic and administrative colleagues, students, and leaders to identify key priorities, challenges, and opportunities.

    3. Oct
      1. Oct – Dec 2025 – Strategy Framework Development and Testing

        Developed the 2026–2031 IT Strategy Framework and validated it through follow-up focus groups with participants from earlier consultations.

    4. Dec
      1. Dec 2025 – May 2026 – Strategic Operating Plan

        Translate the strategy into a practical Year 1 operating plan to guide implementation.

  2. 2026
    1. Jan
      1. January – February 2026 – Strategic Plan Document

        Draft and design the final IT Strategic Plan document.

    2. Jun
      1. June 2026 – Strategy Launch

        Launch the IT Strategic Plan and begin implementation across the institution.


Questions or feedback about the IT Strategic Plan can be submitted to ist-comm@uwaterloo.ca.