Message from CIO and University Librarian
The new academic term commences with a lot of exciting news as shared by Prof Joe Qin, President Designate and Acting President. One of them is the availability of ChatGPT for all staff and students. The wave of ChatGPT and generative AI tools has overwhelmed the world with its powerful capabilities and unlimited potential. The University has seriously assessed its impact on higher education and finally decided to embrace its use so that all students will learn how to make the best of generative AI as an assistant in their learning. ITSC swiftly launched the ChatGPT service on 1 July 2023 and continued to extend its functions to ChatGPT 4.0 and incorporated a new image generation function powered on Microsoft Dall-E model. The enhanced portal will be available on 1 September 2023. If used responsibly and ethically, they should be intelligent tools to enhance the teaching and learning environment of the University.
Another exciting development is the opening of the flagship M+ Learning Hub at West Kowloon Cultural District. ITSC is proud to design the state-of-the-art IT and audio-visual setup for all the classrooms, lecture halls, discussion zones, open studios, and offices. This newsletter will report more details.
ITSC did not stop with the above. In the last few months, we have kept on improving our front-line services. New policies like PC On-Loan service for supporting University events, purchase of PCs for temporary staff were launched with very good response from departments. PC replacement exercise is taking place in which all the new PCs will be upgraded with the latest Microsoft Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 Office. Various new systems were developed to enhance the administration efficiency and the use of data in the decision-making process. The latest is the launch of Data Repository System for RPG and Electronic Grade Endorsement System. Data security is further enhanced through the implementation of the new Data Loss Prevention System on 1 August 2023. Our firewall and database network encryption have also been upgraded to form the first-line defense against cybersecurity attack.
The University keeps on improving its quality education and we are ranked second globally in Quality Education in the 2023 THE Impact Ranking. ITSC is committed to continuously expanding and enhancing the campus IT facilities, platforms and services to serve the teaching, learning, research and operational needs of the University. Please stay tuned with our development.