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The UIB is leading the research and development of Government Information Technology

ACSIC research group coordinates the European project IGT4TU

The University of Balearic Islands (UIB), through ACSIC research group led by Dr. Carlos Juiz Garcia, coordinates the training and development European project, ITG4TU, based on a relatively young discipline: the government of Information Technology. IT Governance consists in a comprehensive framework of directive structures, decision-making strategic processes and mechanisms of participation of the organization in the proper use of IT. The government of Information Technology (IT) has been developed greatly since the advent of ISO/IEC 38500 standard, managed in Spain by AENOR, being national coordinator of the standard the principal investigator of ACSIC group. However organizations often experience difficulties when implementing the standard as key stakeholders (eg, shareholders of private companies or citizens in public companies) can become excluded from the scope of government, causing the absence of its necessary implication.

IT governance is an essential part of the governance of the company as a whole and brings the organizational structure and directive needed to ensure that IT supports and facilitates the development of strategic objectives. Institutions that have effective IT governance structures can increase profits by 20% than those who do not, because the allocation of resources efficient and effective promoted. IT governance enables senior management of organizations focus on three essential requirements of good governance: risk reduction, cost control and extend the value of the information system. At university scope, studies show a positive relationship between effective IT governance and performance at universities. As a result, the project led by the ACSIC group is key to the universities.

Despite the importance of the issue worldwide, the penetration of IT governance in universities is still scarce. In previous and recent studies, the three main obstacles to the implementation of IT Governance in Universities are: 1) Lack of clear principles, 2) Budget constraints and 3) Lack of method for selecting the framework of IT governance.

That is why the ITG4TU project aims to address the three obstacles providing a set of experts from higher education institutions with prior experience in the development and deployment of governance frameworks in three different countries (Spain, Germany and Norway, led by UIB) to develop, adapt and test a new IT governance framework to be implemented in four universities in Tunisia.

The research group ACSIC from UIB has pioneered the implementation of the discipline of IT governance and contributed not only the implementation of governance frameworks in Spanish universities in collaboration with the CRUE, but also with projects of inter-university cooperation. Besides the ACSIC group has contributed to the development of frameworks about IT governance in various institutions such as the Central Bank of Paraguay, the National University of Asunción (UNA), the International University of Ecuador, as well as ULADECH in Peru, which recently awarded Carlos Juiz with the Honorable Distinction of Visiting professor.

The ITG4TU project has been funded by a line of Erasmus+ program with 600K euros with a duration of three years. ACSIC research group has come a long research career by participating in other European projects with similar calls as VIREG, DEFI, Semsem,...; for their coordination in national projects such as WEEVIL, MOPRESIT, SOSA,...; in addition to cooperation projects, as currently developed on advice in implementing the governance of information technology and communication in Ecuador, as well as the project, also coordinated previously, on automated detection of reinfestation by Triatoma infestans in Paraguay, whose partner of the National University of Asuncion has recently awarded by the MIT Technology Review Award for innovators under 35 years.

Currently, the ITG4TU project is already beginning its second phase in various Tunisian universities with advice and coordination of the UIB. Because the organizational reliance on information technology in developing economies is increasing, for the specific case of Africa, the penetration of IT governance is weak. As the mainstream of IT governance-related research tends to focus more on the developed economies, the viability of these IT governance structures established in developing economies is unclear, because of their specific political and social context. With this in mind, the IT governance framework must be tuned to the countries of destination, in this case, at the universities of Tunisia.

Event date: 19/10/2016

Publication date: Thu Oct 20 09:11:00 CEST 2016

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