Information Technology Services (ITS)

Progress report: Phase 2 of Tech Alignment Task Force is “our strongest learning phase”

Published on: April 22, 2026

When University of Toronto CIO Donna Kidwell initiated the IT@UofT Tech Alignment Task Force in late 2025, she envisioned something ambitious: a coordinated sprint in less than a year across the entire tri-campus to examine how the university’s fragmented technology landscape could be streamlined and optimized without sacrificing the local expertise and academic autonomy that make U of T so unique.

Six months in, that vision is taking shape in ways that are both challenging and exciting. The Task Force is in the midst of the second of its three phases, and the energy across working groups suggests that real institutional change is on deck.

“Phase 2 is our most expansive and most intensive learning phase,” says Kidwell, who tapped Deputy CIO Zoran Piljevic to co-sponsor the Task Force.

“We’re looking outward, soaking up information, talking to experts, and questioning our assumptions to feel out new ways of doing things.”

So where does the Tech Alignment Task Force find itself at this moment, in April of 2026?

The Task Force recently brought Michelle Ching’anda on board to steward its work and help set up the reporting and roadmapping structure that will lead to its eventual recommendations. Ching’anda most recently served as director of Information Technology Security at Humber College, and brings 20+ years of experience in leading enterprise technology projects in higher ed institutions and navigating change through increasingly complex tech ecosystems.

Phase 1 (October 2025 – January 2026): Where are we?

The Task Force’s six working groups conducted current-state assessments across their respective domains — identifying resources, gaps, successes, pain points, and more. Phase 1 reporting showed that the university’s IT ecosystem is strong in pockets: there is deep expertise, genuine momentum, and examples of excellent local practice. But the picture is uneven. Inventories, governance, and procurement can lack clarity and cohesion. Processes that work smoothly in one division may not translate to another. And the very nature of a federated, research-intensive university creates unique complexity.

“The institution is not lacking capability,” says Piljevic. “It’s lacking coherence.”

Phase 2 (February – May 2026): What can we learn?

Phase 2 is explicitly oriented around exploration and external engagement. Working groups are reaching beyond U of T’s walls to learn from peer institutions, sector leaders, vendors, thought leaders, and communities of practice. They are benchmarking against global higher education exemplars, stress-testing assumptions, and identifying three to four high-priority opportunity areas per group.

“The goal in Phase 2 is not to arrive at answers,” says Ching’anda, “but to understand the full landscape of what’s possible before committing to the directions we’ll take. The focus right now is on targeted exploration and learning.”

Phase 3 (June – August 2026): Where should we be going?

Working groups will translate their opportunity areas into defined recommendations and strategic priorities for 2026–27. Roadmaps for each of the six working groups will enable a set of actionable recommendations and a clearer institutional picture of what it means to be a genuinely AI-ready, digitally sophisticated university.

Not just static recommendations, the roadmaps are intended to be living documents that support an ongoing institutional journey toward a continually-optimizing technology environment that is as ambitious, rigorous, and as internationally recognized as the research and teaching it supports at U of T.

“This work represents true tri-campus collaboration,” says Anthony Betts, director of Information & Instructional Technology Services at UTM and co-chair of the Service Delivery Management Working Group.

“It’s a chance to move the needle on things that need to change and on how we work together. It also allows for stretch opportunities, personal development and real career growth for everyone involved.”

The Task Force sprint is at its halfway mark. The most intensive learning is happening right now. And the university is paying close attention.

The Tech Alignment Task Force is co-sponsored by Chief Information Officer Donna K. Kidwell and Deputy CIO Zoran Piljevic. For more information, contact its.eda@utoronto.ca or follow Information Technology Services on social media.

Explore photos from past Tech Alignment Task Force meetings and activities: