The WatITis conference is an annual gathering of information technology professionals and administrators from the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and tech industry partners.
Giesbrecht's talk took up the subject of “Post-pandemic IT for the new university,” discussing the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted IT in the university sector and created the conditions for a new technological paradigm in higher education.
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create something amazing out of this moment of disruption and set the university on a new path for the next decade and beyond,” Giesbrecht said.
“The pandemic has fundamentally changed the landscape of higher education, as it has changed most every facet of our world. We often hear discussion of the so-called ‘return to normal,’ as though it will be possible to go back to the world as it existed before. We can’t. The premise that informs my talk is that there is no going back. I’ll even argue that we don’t want to.”
WatITis is being held online throughout the day on December 8. Read more on the WatITis homepage.