Information Technology Services (ITS)
Charting our digital future: IT@UofT Tech Alignment Task Force kicks off heading into 2026
Published on: November 25, 2025
Our IT landscape at the University of Toronto is robust and varied, and collaboration is key to our next stage of evolution. In order to build the future-ready, AI-enabled university we want, we need to align our technology capabilities across the tri-campus. What exactly does that entail?
The new IT@UofT Tech Alignment Task Force is rolling up its sleeves to tackle this question.
Spearheaded by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Tech Alignment Task Force will take a deep look at technology capabilities, practices and resources across the entire university to modernize our digital infrastructure and elevate our IT strategy to meet this unique technological moment.
We all know that AI is making waves across all sectors, industries and aspects of life. But what lies underneath innovation and tech-forward action is a strong, reliable foundation.
At the heart of the Task Force’s alignment efforts are commitments to digital trust—something CIO Donna K. Kidwell has spoken passionately about—as well as operational excellence (one of our core values) and true AI readiness.
How will it work?
The Task Force will develop two-year digital roadmaps through six interconnected working groups, each focused on a critical IT area: identity, data management, asset management, endpoint management, service delivery management and network & firewall.
“We absolutely have to co-create where we’re going,” says Kidwell of the Task Force’s roadmaps.
“Let’s get ahead of being reactive—whether to technological advancements, financial realities or the changing winds of discourse—and let’s drive our own vision. Let’s really lean into what’s possible and be bold when we imagine how things could be.”
Current and future states: Task Force purpose and vision
The Task Force will assess the current state of technology across the university, identify opportunities for cross-campus collaboration and alignment and use the co-created roadmaps as foundational components of ensuring a secure, scalable and ethically governed technology environment for all our community members—past, present and future.
Crucially, the Task Force will align with existing governance bodies such as the Information Security Council, IT@UofT Board and IT@UofT Business Board.
Who makes up the Task Force?
The Task Force is co-sponsored by Chief Information Officer Donna K. Kidwell and Deputy CIO Zoran Piljevic, who is also Senior Director, Technology and Business Transformation at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s (UTSC) Information & Instructional Technology Services (IITS). The recently-appointed working group co-chairs were drawn from across the university’s IT community, with each group co-chaired by leaders representing central, divisional and provostial units from the tri-campus community:
- Identity working group: co-chaired by Deyves Fonseca, Paul McDonald and Paul Morrison
- Data management working group: co-chaired by Sotira Chrisanthidis and Kiren Handa
- Asset management working group: co-chaired by Amaz Taufique and Corey Dales
- Endpoint management working group: co-chaired by Vicki Vokas and Alex Tichine
- Service delivery management working group: co-chaired by Anthony Betts and Swetlana Signarowski
- Network & firewall working group: co-chaired by Patrick Hopewell and Michael Young
“I’m really looking forward to guiding a Task Force working group through this collaborative and fast-paced process,” says Sotira Chrisanthidis, Executive Director of Information & Instructional Technology in the Faculty of Arts & Science and co-chair of the data management working group along with Kiren Handa, Executive Director, Institutional Research and Data Governance.
“Bringing together diverse perspectives to tackle complex challenges within our distributed architecture so we can develop new solutions is really the best way forward for driving U of T’s future technological vision and landscape.”
The Task Force has engaged leaders from both divisional and central IT units, so that locally-driven needs and innovation are enmeshed with across-the-board client service excellence and institutional efficiency.
From assessment to ideation and beyond: Task Force timelines
The Task Force will operate over a nine-month period in three phases:
- Phase 1 (Oct. 2025 – Jan. 2026): Assess the current state, identify opportunities and capture early wins.
- Phase 2 (Feb. – May 2026): Host ideation sessions to envision future architectures and develop detailed roadmaps.
- Phase 3 (Jun. – Jul. 2026): Finalize recommendations and establish strategic priorities for 2026 – 27.
By the fall of 2026, the Task Force will be ready to release their findings and move quickly to act on recommendations and priorities.
Tech alignment: A foundation for innovation
Through its focus on six critical IT areas, the Task Force will help strengthen the foundation for the university’s AI adoption strategy and enhance the security, accessibility and reliability of our digital environment for all users.
The IT@UofT Tech Alignment Task Force is not just a planning exercise—it’s a bold step toward a unified, future-ready digital ecosystem. By aligning technology efforts across the university, we’ll prepare ourselves and our community to meet the demands of today’s dense and fast-moving information ecosystem.