Information Systems and Technology contributes to the realization of the College’s mission and is an essential pillar of its digital transformation, providing both the infrastructure and applications necessary for the smooth running of its activities, as well as guaranteeing the quality and security of its data. A number of activities were carried out over the course of 2022-23, some of which are listed below.

New or enhancement to existing digital applications

Dawson College continued to enhance its online services and make progress in its digital transformation. Notably in 2022-23, a new student internship management system was deployed and a new centralized room booking system, consolidating five different systems, was introduced.  The Finance department started piloting new online expense claims. Digital signage was also centralized under one management system and integrated with an emergency alert system.

The College’s admission systems and website have been updated to conform to new regulations introduced by Law 14. We also deployed new translation tools to produce our institutional documents, memos, and web site in both languages.

Infrastructure upgrades

To ensure our services remain robust and keep answering the rapidly evolving needs of the community, IST is constantly upgrading and modernizing our infrastructure. In 2022-23, we deployed and tested a new disaster recovery plan entirely in the cloud.

The College continued its on-going migration of on-premise systems to cloud services, in compliance with the government’s requirements. In 2022-23, we started to use this infrastructure to offer some of the Web courses.

We replaced the entire fleet of laboratory printers and started the replacement of our analog projectors to digital ones.

Cybersecurity enhancement

To ensure the protection of its infrastructures and systems, IST has implemented a number of measures designed to enhance the level of security. In 2022-23 we added multi-factor authentication, already required for most of accesses outside the College, to our Portal. We also deployed new features in our infrastructure for identity and threat management.

The awareness of our community to cybersecurity risks in essential in our strategy. In 2022-23 we continued our awareness program with a new required cybersecurity training module for all employees.

Community service and support

IST department has provided training sessions to college employees on Microsoft Teams, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, WordPress, Moodle, Clara, Lea, and Infosilem Campus. The department’s pedagogical counsellors have organized numerous trainings and workshops to help teachers effectively utilize technology in the classroom.  One example is Moodle, where the college has a dedicated technician supporting the Dawson community with the latest updates and enhanced features such as advanced quizzes, mathematical formula entry, integration with Microsoft 365, class collaboration and grade book options to name a few.