独家专访香港城大首席信息官，了解高校信息治理的两条脉络
在《高校信息化：比起技术，更缺人才！》中，一读君给大家分享了美国高等教育信息化协会发布的第3份高等教育信息化团队行业地图，试图帮助大家理解高校信息化团队的构成、运作机制和发展脉络，但可能有人还觉得不过瘾，想看下业内人士的真实想法。下面，就让我们听一位高校首席信息官是怎么说的吧！（为方便大家理解，一读君将英文访谈原文译成中文）
这是一读EDU推送的第143篇文章
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CIO（来源：合肥市首席信息官协会官网）
大学是一种古老而又现代的社会组织，既仍然保留创立之初就有的人才培养使命，不断招收、训练一批批年轻人，又应时代要求，逐步增加了科学研究、社会服务、文化传承、国际交流等职能。
在传统与革新之间，大学不断探索，有的高校已开始利用新技术支持教学、学习、科研、管理工作（参见《大数据能帮助学生毕业？美国高校的新玩法》）。
香港城市大学（下称“城大”）是其中的典型，2000年，该校成为香港首个设立首席信息官（Chief Information officer，下称“CIO”）职位及其首席信息官办公室（Office of the CIO）的大学，而后者的使命（mission）是，通过提供科技战略领导和创新信息技术解决方案，推动城大完成自身核心使命，支持所在社区的发展。
乍听起来，城大CIO及其领导的CIO办公室的使命可并不简单，那么，他们又是如何完成的呢？一读君近日独家专访了香港城市大学（以下简称“城大”）CIO克里斯蒂安·瓦格纳教授（Prof. Christian Wagner）。
通过和瓦格纳教授的访谈，一读君发现了两条脉络：
01
自上而下：作为城大CIO，瓦格纳负责统筹整个学校的信息技术发展和应用工作，也就跻身学校管理层之列，他需要寻求其他管理层人士（包括学校信息服务治理委员会成员、教务长团队）和校内部门、院系领导等利益相关方的支持，推动打破校内数据孤岛，实现数据互通、共享。
02
自下而上：作为城大CIO，瓦格纳也深知技术的威力，自其接任起，就决定必须要在校内创建底层统一的数据结构，让数据能在各部门、院系之间顺畅流动，乃至向上服务到决策层。同时，管理层还意识到要深入了解基层院系、部门和学生的需求，真正以解决问题为导向。
克里斯蒂安·瓦格纳，香港城市大学CIO，创意媒体学院客座教授，学校分管质量保证副教务长。瓦格纳教授1996年加入香港城市大学，2016年10月成为该校第3任CIO。主要研究方向为基于信息的决策支持体系、虚拟社区（维基百科和博客等）信息和知识管理研究、基于信息技术的战略规划制定和绩效管理研究。
香港城市大学第三任CIO瓦格纳教授
（来源：香港城市大学官网）
关于责任与素养
一读君：作为城大的CIO，你如何看待这份工作？当初为什么要接受这样一个职位？
瓦格纳：我已在城大工作20余年，切身感受到城大在持续发展中的短板。我之前曾想过，如若自己接任了城大的CIO，我可以通过积极的变革让学校发展得更好，这是我接受这个职位的初衷。让城大成为一所更好的大学，对我而言，既是挑战也是机会。担任城大的CIO无疑意味着巨大的责任，因此决定接受这个职位是经过慎重考虑的。
一读君：你平时应该很忙，是如何平衡好工作和科研的？
瓦格纳：毫无疑问，的确很繁忙。在担任CIO之前，我在学校同时担任多个职务。我是学校分管教学的副教务长，需要花很多时间确保学校的教学质量，从而我个人的科研工作只占很小的一部分。因此，我尽量寻找能将自己科研兴趣与管理工作加以结合的研究领域。我首先是学校的管理者，然后是一名科研人员。
一读君：你认为，一个优秀的CIO需要具备哪些核心特质？
瓦格纳：毫无疑问，作为一个跟信息频繁打交道的职位，对技术的深刻理解是一名优秀CIO必备的特质。除此之外，还需要深入理解学校的运作管理，特别是教学、科研如何运作以及他们的需求是什么，这也是我们校长特别希望由一名教授出任CIO的原因所在，因为这样学校作为学术机构的需求将会和信息技术更加紧密融合。也是就是说，需要同时理解业务运作和信息技术。
此外，管理人的技巧、与不同部门和人员进行高效的沟通也非常重要，例如招聘人才，向非信息技术部门的人员解释我们的工作，说服他们提供数据，等等。我深刻地体会到知人善用的重要性，这需要有很高的情商。
团队建设
一读君：你是如何进行团队建设的，在此过程中都遇到过什么问题？
瓦格纳：人才管理对我来说是非常重要的工作。目前，信息行业，尤其是教育科研领域面临人才短缺的困境。城大信息化团队中有多名成员即将退休，我需要尽快找到可以补充这些职位的候选人。面对信息行业激烈的竞争，我们有时也需要通过提高薪资来吸引和留住优秀人才。此外，随着科技的快速发展，如何保持信息化团队积极进取、与时俱进也是我们面临的另一大挑战。
一读君：在补充职位空缺时，你更倾向于提升内部人才还是招聘外部人员？
瓦格纳：这两种方式我都在采用。内部招聘能激励内部团队，试想一下，若是一个高级管理人员退休了，我从内部提拔另外一个人来接替这个职位，通过内部提拔，一个人的退休促成了诸多人职位的晋升，这是大家非常喜闻乐见的职位发展途径。
若是我通过外部招聘来补充空缺职位，这些内部晋升以及晋升带来的激励效果是不可能出现的，这可能会抑制内部团队成员的积极性。所以更多时候，我需要在这两种招聘方式中权衡。有时，我需要要通过内部招聘晋升员工；有时，为了引入新的想法和举措，我需要通过外部招聘补充团队。
一读君：在提升团队的职业素质方面，你都有哪些举措？
瓦格纳：举例来说，我们有跨学科团队，让来自不同部门的同事，例如应用开发团队、计算机服务团队和CIO办公室，组成团队，从各自角度分享、交流彼此之间的想法。通过这种方式，他们就可以相互学习不同学科和技术领域。目前，有的小组正在关注新技术，而其他小组可能在关注如何处理信息安全问题，或如何提升用户体验这样的课题。
信息战略规划
一读君：你是如何制定城大信息发展的战略规划的？在这个过程中，你得到了哪些部门的支持呢？
瓦格纳：要想成为一名成功的CIO，我需要和各利益相关者密切合作。在管理层面，我们的信息事务就由信息服务治理委员会具体管理。委员会负责讨论战略方向和具体措施，成员包括学校行政副校长、学生事务副校长和科研技术副校长，他们也都是我在战略规划制定中的支持者。
同时，由于我还是学校的副教务长，所以我也得到了教务长团队的支持。再者，来自各个院系领导的支持也至关重要。简而言之，我需要获得多方的支持，包括学校高级管理者，以及各个院系的管理者。
一读君：我们发现，城大有一个“网站重塑项目”，当时为何要设计这个项目，具体又如何实施的？
瓦格纳：在过去10多年里，城大的很多院系都有自己的网站，它们各自为战，使用简单的工具搭建网页。但随着时间推移，人们对大学网页的认识改变了：大学的网页可以进行品牌展示、信息交流、知识分享、业务处理、甚至电子商务。比如我们举办会议，参会者进行线上注册并通过信用卡付费，这就是一种电子商务。
大学的网页再也不像以前那样只起简单的信息展示作用。我们需要塑造良好的品牌，保证校内网页平稳运行，我们需要通过数据分析获悉用户的行为特点，等等。
为让这一切更加系统化地进行，我们在2011年启动了“网页重塑项目”，实施了对网页内容的管理。网页内容仍然由院系提供，但是他们无需再为服务器、网页应用、编程等细节担心。这个项目让我们可以更加方便地管理网页，更加一致地表达信息，以及更加迅速地更新内容和获取反馈。
数据科学专业
一读君：你如何看待“数据科学”这个专业？
瓦格纳：我认为数据科学非常重要。通过对数据的深入研究，我们能够更好地认识学校和各部门。例如，数据科学能够帮助我们弄清如何培养卓越教师和学生，以及如何促进学校的发展，但同时也需要综合多方面的技能。通常情况下，擅长数据分析和擅长处理业务的人不可兼得，而数据科学完美地融合了这两个方向人才的技能。数据科学不仅意味着做数据分析和数据表示，还涉及利用诸如数据仪表盘这样的技术去做数据方面的预测。
给内地同行的建议
一读君：对于内地高校即将上任的CIO，你有什么建议呢？
瓦格纳：作为学校的CIO，你可能会面临很多的挑战。在城大，学校拥有各种不同职能部门，例如日常管理、人力资源等，各部门都需要有自己的信息管理系统处理业务，但往往忽视了整合彼此数据的必要性。通过搭建底层共享的数据架构，我们可以做到这一点。只有数据在不同部门间进行共享、整合，我们才能充分利用数据科学，并在未来构建更好的应用。
更重要的是，我必须对数据架构有深入的思考。当我接任CIO的那刻起，我就意识到自己必须创建底层统一的数据架构，这也正是我目前正在做的事情。我认为，做数据架构最好的方法是明确学校的核心业务以及其运行方式，使得不同部门的数据可以互通共享。
综合来看，我建议，高校CIO需要做好数据架构设计、明确学校核心业务、管理合作关系，运用已有资源让大家意识到数据共享的重要性。只有这样做，才能有效打破数据使用的壁垒。当做到了以上这些，你将体会到数据在整个学校组织中得以顺畅使用所带来的精彩。
以下为一读君与瓦格纳教授的英文对话原稿
（可滑动查看）
Q：As the CIO of City U, how do you think about this job and why did you accept this position?
Prof. Wagner：I’ve been in City University for over 20 years. For many years, I knew what was missing to enable City University to move forward. I always feel that if I take this role, I can make a positive change for the institution. So that’s why I accepted this position. It is my challenge and also my opportunity to make City U a better organization. But no doubt being CIO is also a big responsibility, so I considered this decision carefully.
Q：As the CIO, you must be very busy. How do you balance your academic work with this position？
Prof. Wagner：No doubt, I’m very busy. I should point out that before I took this role, I already had several other roles in the university. I am the Associate Provost, which means I spend much time looking out the quality assurance for the university. Because of this, my personal research takes a smaller role. So I try my best to find areas of research that combine my work with my academic interests. I am first the manager in the organization, and then the university research faculty.
Q：What characters do you think are important for a successful CIO?
Prof. Wagner：It’s interesting you ask that. It is clear that you should have a good understanding of technology because it is a position to deal with information. But you also should have a deep understanding of what the university does and especially how academic things work, and what their needs are. That’s why our president wants very much the CIO to be a professor, since the university’s interests as an academic institution will much better align with the IT. So clearly, I have to understand business and I have to understand IT. Many of the issues, especially in the large organization are about people, e.g. to hire people, to get our clients understand our job, to convince people to give their data, etc. Much of my work is really about people management. I really need to understand people very well, and it requires quite some level of emotional intelligence, EQ.
Q：What kind of problems do you have in the process of building a team？
Prof. Wagner: Right now, the IT sector is in short supply of people, especially in the academic IT. Many people who report to me are retiring. I really need to find the replacement. Also the sector is very competitive, sometimes we have to raise the salary to attract and keep the best people. The other issue that comes to people I think is keeping colleagues motivated and keeping them up-to-date because technology changes so quickly.
Q：Do you prefer to promote people within the institution or from outside of the institution?
Prof. Wagner：I do both now. If I recruit inside, that is very motivational. When a senior manager retired, a manager will become the senior manager, a junior manager will become the manager and so on. In this case, I will have many promotions for people with one person leaving and recruiting from inside. It’s a very happy promotion pipeline. If a senior manager leaves, I replace him or her with another senior manager from outside. That means nothing happens inside and my internal people will be much less excited. So, I have to balance. Sometimes, I want to recruit someone in this promotion way, sometimes I get people from outside for new ideas and approaches.
Q：What kind of strategy do you use to improve their professional growth
Prof. Wagner：For example, we have interdisciplinary teams. I ask my colleagues to form groups from different offices, such as application development office, computer services office, and my office. Some groups may be asked to look at new technologies, others may be asked specifically to consider how do we deal with security issues, or how to improve user experience. They share ideas from different perspectives. By this way, they can learn from different disciplinary areas.
Q：Who are involved in strategic design for information services and technology in City U? Are deans / directors from academic departments involved in strategic design? What are their roles?
Prof. Wagner: To be successful as a CIO, I need to make a strong bond with stakeholders. Our IT is governed by the ISGC, Information Service Governance Committee. They discuss what the strategic direction is, what initiatives we should take at the important project level. Several vice presidents are members. The vice president of administration, the vice president of student affairs and the vice president of research and technology are all members of this committee. They will be my supporters. And I still keep my role as the provost officer, so I get supports from provosts as well. I have also very close relationships with the deans. So in a word, I must have supports from the senior managers, from deans and from as many as department heads as possible.
Q：Why did the City U launch the “Web Redesign Project”? How is this project going?
Prof. Wagner：In the past, like ten years ago or twelve years ago, many academic departments have their own web pages. In this case, everybody would do their own things and just made webpages with very simple tools like html. But that time has passed and our understandings of what a university website does has changed. We know it does branding, information communication, knowledge sharing, transaction process, and sometimes even e-commerce. For example, when you have a conference, and people will need to register and pay with the credit card and this is a kind of e-commerce. Our web is not what it was before, just telling others “hello, here we are”, instead it is much more. We need very good branding tools, very maintainable webpages, and we need the analytics so that we know where people go to in our website. And those have to be done systematically. Therefore, we launched Web Redesign Project and implemented a web content management (WCM) platform to manage the websites. The departments still provide the content, but they don’t need to worry about the web server, the web applications and the coding. The new project will make our websites much easier to manage, much consistent in presentation and in the end we get messages much better and much faster.
Q：How do you think about the development of data science?
Prof. Wagner：I think data science is quite important. I believe we can learn a lot from a deep look at our data and our organization. For instance, data science can help us to know how to make faculty more successful, how to make students more successful and how to make our organization more successful. But that requires for multiple skills. Normally, people who understand statistics don’t understand institution. Here they can do both. That’s really a rare skill combination. Date Science is not only about data analysis and data representation, but also using something like data dashboard to make data predication.
Q：What suggestions do you have for new CIOs in the mainland of China?
Prof. Wagner：As a CIO, you may face many challenges. In City U, we possess different functions. The VP administration and the HR, they all ask for their own systems. But they may focus less on the need for data integration. By creating a common data architecture, we can do that. Only if we have data integration, with sharing date between different offices, can we do good data science and build better applications in the future.
Q：Most importantly, I must think of the data architecture for the organization.
Prof. Wagner：When I came, I knew I must create an organizational data organization. That’s what I am working on. The best way to this, I think, is to start thinking about what are core business processes for the university. That’s for any future CIO. You need to think about data architecture and think about your core business processes. Then use your human social capital and understand your work relation with your colleagues, convince them to share the data. Once you achieve that, they will see how wonderful it is in the data use across the organization. This is my advice for a future CIO.
Reference：
香港城市大学官网,http://www.cityu.edu.hk.
蒋东兴,刘臻,沈富可,金永灿,付小龙. 高校智慧校园建设呼唤CIO体系[J].中国教育信息化，2016（7）.
本期作者
北京研究分站 王成敏
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