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'Technology Governance Committee' - Membership and Terms of Reference

This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.

Section 1 - Establishment

(1) The Technology Governance Committee is established by the Vice-Chancellor on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor's Leadership Team.

Purpose

(2) The purpose of the Technology Governance Committee is to:

  1. be informed of developments and directions for the sector with respect to technology;
  2. develop a University wide Technology Strategy, to guide the University and delivery on its Strategy;
  3. provide direction, oversight and governance of the Portfolio of Technology Initiatives; and
  4. provide strategic oversight of the University’s Application Portfolio, Data Quality and Governance and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Security.

(3) The Technology Governance Committee has cross-University representation and is chaired by the Chief Financial Officer.

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Section 2 - Glossary

(4) For the purpose of this document:

  1. Committee - means Technology Governance Committee.
  2. Technology Initiatives – is a portfolio of initiatives requiring planned change that transform process, information management and systems. Delivered within a project framework, these initiatives are complex undertakings incorporating a major Information and Communications Technology (ICT) component and with an impact that typically transcends organisational units. A Technology Initiative may also include pre-project investigation activities undertaken to establish greater detail (business value, resourcing, cost, feasibility etc.) for those potential initiatives that are larger and more complex. Significant web-related projects that introduce enterprise change and require a range of technical skills may also be included on the Technology Initiative to facilitate prioritisation, resource allocation and scheduling across the breadth of the portfolio.
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Section 3 - Membership

(5) The regular members of the Technology Governance Committee shall be the:

  1. Chief Financial Officer as Chair;
  2. Executive Director, Division of Information Technology;
  3. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students), or nominee;
  4. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), or nominee;
  5. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Engagement) or nominee;
  6. Executive Director, People and Culture, or nominee; and
  7. Director, Strategic Planning.

(6) The Committee will be serviced by the Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer.

(7) Right of audience and debate shall be granted to the:

  1. Director, IT Infrastructure and Security, Division of Information Technology;
  2. Director, Learning & Strategic Solutions, Division of Information Technology; and
  3. Associate Director, IT Project Portfolio, Division of Information Technology.
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Section 4 - Functions and Responsibilities

(8) Excluded from the Portfolio of Technology Initiatives are minor system maintenance upgrades, licensing, support and associated costs in the implementation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure or equivalent internet-based virtual services.

(9) System upgrades are not normally resourced or prioritised as part of the Technology Initiatives, but major upgrades (refer to clause 10) may be considered at the discretion of the Technology Governance Committee where an upgrade requires significant resourcing or presents significant business change that could not reasonably be undertaken by a systems custodian as a business as usual activity. In consultation with the Division of Information Technology, system custodians should maintain an upgrade plan that is funded, sustainable and executed in alignment with the recommendations of the vendor.  Ongoing, regular updates will require planning as part of the activities and resourcing of the relevant section.

(10) Major upgrades are characterised as follows:

  1. the new version is a major release and not merely a revision ('dot' release) or bug fix;
  2. may require the provision of new infrastructure or technology platform;
  3. new version delivers additional functionality, or new or changed business process/es thereby necessitating the implementation of the change in a controlled and managed fashion;
  4. impact of the activity is cross-divisional; 
  5. activity extends beyond three months;
  6. involves a range of different stakeholders;
  7. requires a mix of technical resources; and
  8. need to be undertaken as a project utilising high-level project delivery staff.

(11) Backlog maintenance activity may be undertaken as part of the Technology Initiatives, subject to approval by the Technology Governance Committee. Backlog maintenance is defined as managed activity ensuring that dated or legacy environments are upgraded or retired to enable the on-going renewal and development of the ICT environment.  A proportion of annual Technology Initiatives funding can be set aside to fund backlog maintenance activities.  This funding may be up to 20% of Technology Initiatives funding and is approved on an annual basis at the discretion of the Technology Governance Committee.

(12) Technology Initiatives may include ICT-related initiatives that are not funded by Technology Initiatives. Examples include those funded by the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) or Capital Management Plan; funded activities enabling, or related to the delivery of the Strategic Plan or ICT-related projects placed on the Technology Initiatives as determined by the Vice-Chancellor's Leadership Team.

(13) The Technology Governance Committee has and may exercise the following functions for and on behalf of the University:

  1. to be informed by the Division of Information Technology, and other members of technology developments within the sector to ensure insight and to take a holistic and organisation wide view to technology decisions affecting the University;
  2. assess project initiatives and make strategic decisions on projects based on their value contribution and in the overall context of the portfolio of activities to be undertaken through:
    1. maintaining alignment with the scope of the Technology Initiatives;  
    2. improving initiative handling proposals; and
    3. improving governance processes related to the Committee.
  3. authorise the initiation of a scheduled project, on agreement of scope, timeline, budget and expected outcomes;
  4. approve the prioritised backlog maintenance upgrade schedule, and funding;
  5. monitor and as appropriate, review, approved projects to ensure the health of the Technology Initiatives project portfolio and that expected project outcomes maintain their value contribution;
  6. authorise the launch of projects at the critical point in a project where infrastructure, timeline, downstream and other estimates are deemed to have been satisfactorily refined to provide a "go/no go" decision point i.e. at Project Definition;
  7. approve or reject project requests (Requests for Change) to proceed if the project experiences material change(s) in spend, scope, quality, resources, strategy, timeline/schedule, key risks and issues, business /support readiness, etc.;
  8. The Technology Governance Committee authorises the Executive Director, Division of Information Technology, to review and approve or reject Requests for Change if the impact to the portfolio is minimal. The following criteria can be used as a guide to help inform the Executive Director, Division of Information Technology as to how to treat the Request for Change, although approval remains at his/her discretion:
    1. any additional funds required are no more than 10% of total, annual Technology Initiatives funding and funds required are available;
    2. the project has not submitted more than two Request for Changes previously or one in the previous six months;
    3. approving the change does not significantly impact the progress, or delay the commencement, of any Critical or High Priority; and
    4. any timeframe extension does not exceed six months.
  9. approve closure and mainstreaming of projects though a Project Closure Report submitted to the Technology Governance Committee which has been signed off by the Project Sponsor and Project Manager;
  10. strategic review and guidance of the University Application Portfolio;
  11. strategic review, oversight and direction of the Data Security and Governance Committee (formerly the Data Governance Committee);
  12. make recommendations to the Vice-Chancellor's Leadership Team as required;
  13. place projects on hold where it is deemed to be appropriate; and
  14. promote and support the rationale and objectives of the Technology Governance Committee, and excellence in the application of ICT, within the University community.

Member Responsibilities 

(14) Nominees appointed by the respective senior executive lead is expected to represent the full portfolio and is responsible to ensure communication and support of the respective portfolio.

(15) A regular member may appoint another person to attend a meeting or meetings on their behalf, or to act on their behalf for a specified timeframe. A person so appointed will be deemed to be a regular member of the Committee for the specified time and may vote as a regular member.

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Section 5 - Meetings

Quorum

(16) A quorum shall be five regular members of the Technology Governance Committee.

Meetings

(17) Approximately six meetings will be held annually. These will be from one to three hours in duration depending on need. Of these, at least one meeting will consider submissions of new initiative proposals for inclusion on the Technology Initiatives schedule, and for funding.

(18) New initiatives may be considered by the Committee at an Ordinary (non-new Initiatives meeting) meeting under the advice of the Executive Director, Division of Information Technology.

(19)  Where critical or urgent approvals are required between meetings, and they cannot be addressed by the Executive Director, Division of Information Technology (refer to clause 13h), approval may be sought from the Executive Director, Division of Information Technology to have such issues and decisions addressed by the Committee via a ‘flying minute'.

Conflicts of Interest

(20) Where a member has a perceived or material conflict of interest, they must declare this to the Chair and at the Committee meeting prior to discussion to the item of business.