A strategic approach to technology innovation

A Strategic Approach to Technology Innovation
PRESENTED BY:
Orlando Leon, Chief Information Officer
Max Tsai, Innovation Architect

Introductions
➢ Orlando Leon
➢ Max Tsai
MAX TSAI
Innovation Architect
Fresno State

Learning Objectives
● Observe and learn about practical applications of technology
innovations in teaching, learning, and administrative
environments.
● Understand decision factors for initiatives, resource
considerations, key stakeholders, political considerations.
● Learn about Fresno State’s technology innovation strategic
approach, including support for high impact practices to support
student success.

Fresno State Demographics
● Central Valley, Agricultural-Focus, Lowest Per-Capita Median
Income in CA, Division I Athletics
● 25,168 Students Enrolled in Fall 2017
● Bachelors/Masters/Doctoral-Granting Institution
● AANAPISI/HSI
● 70% First Generation to College Student/70% Pell Grant Recipients
● 90+ FTE in Central IT
● (includes some Academic Technology, does not include
IR/Library/Advancement/Aux IT)
● 80+ student employees/volunteers
● 8 MPPs

IT Strategic Plan: Innovation
PRIORITY #2//Innovation, Academic, and Administrative Support
Supports Campus Priorities 1, 2, 3, 4
Foster bold innovation with transformational technologies in teaching, learning,
and academic administration through proactive engagement and partnership
with campus constituents to best support student success.
Goals
1. Empower teams with the primary focus of enhancing the classroom and the
general academic experience for students through the innovative use of
technology.
● Create and charge an innovation team to provide research and
development toward bold initiatives advancing the mission of the
university.
2. Create communities of practice supporting academic technology to increase
buy-in, engagement and collaboration toward better support of our students
through the use of innovative technologies and systems

● Our Innovation Journey and Innovation
Initiatives
● Vision / Strategy / Framework
● Next Step - Continue being BOLD!
@FSInnovation

Innovation Journey: Current State 9
Innovation
Initiatives /
Projects
12 / 17
Student Talents
8 / 12
Faculty/Staff
Mentors

Innovation Journey
Since Fall 2016 ~
Innovati
on
Team
Student
Talents
Interns PBL
Undergr
aduate
Researc
h
Fac/Stf
Mentors
Faculty
Researc
her
Professi
onal
Staff
Fall 2016 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Spring 2017 2.5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Summer 2017 2.5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Fall 2017 3.5 4 1 3 0 2 2 0
Spring 2018 2 5 3 2 0 3 2 1
Summer 2018 2 10 5 3 2 7 2 5
Fall 2018 2 15 7 5 3 12 5 7

Innovation Journey: Innovation Team Student
Interns

Quick Win of showing value of innovation and
providing immediate benefits for a ‘Smarter’
Fresno State campus.
Internet of Things initiative
Internet of Things
AWS IoT Enterprise Buttons
Program
Blockchain/ Microcredentials /
Digital Badges
CSU Innovation Minigrant ‘18-’19
A.I. / Virtual Learning Assistant
Tech Innovation in Teaching and
Learning
Innovation Hotspot / DxI
Cloud/ AI-powered Accessible
Streaming
CSU-AWS 50K Grant Round 1
Mobile/ Mobile Student Intranet
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Research and Development
Innovation Team
Innovation Architect & Innovation
Consultant(s) 09/2016
ContinueProcessImprovement

Award CSU Innovation Mini-grant 2018-19
Cloud/Mobile initiative
Internet of Things
Program
Digital Badges
Learning
Streaming
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Team

Sponsored Research Project by SATO in the area of
Pedagogical applications with Artificial Intelligence
Virtual Learning Assistant (VLA) is an interactive learning
framework integrated with LMS featuring finer-grained
predictive analytics for learning behavior and
understandability. VLA is designed to be an OER (Open
Education Resource) platform for content creation and
management.
Pilot: selected courses integrated with LMS by the end of
Summer 2018 for Pilots in Fall 2018.
** See you at Anaheim, CA.
AI-Powered
Virtual Learning Assistant
Internet of Things
Program
Digital Badges
Learning
Streaming
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Team

Cloud Agility initiative
Internet of Things
Program
Digital Badges
Learning
Streaming
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Team
Selected for funding: AWS credits 2018 Round#1.
● Technology Highlights
○ Migrate current On-premises campus Streaming
System to Amazon Cloud infrastructure for delivering
instructional video content in HTTP Live Streaming
(HLS) Mobile-ready format;
○ AI-powered Amazon Transcribe – an automatic
speech recognition (ASR) service, to add speech to
text capability for Accessibility – Closed Captioning.
● This project aligns closely with the Cloud Infrastructure
Readiness effort at Fresno State.
https://tiny.cc/cloud1st

Blockchain initiative
Internet of Things
Program
Digital Badges
Learning
Streaming
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Team
Award CSU Innovation Mini-grant 2018-19
The new Digital Credential Platform is proposed to
embrace Blockchain technologies to improve data
verifiability, availability, and reliability for the evidence
of learning.
https://tiny.cc/fsblockchain

Interdisciplinary Initiative
Virtual Conversation Partner
Internet of Things
Program
Digital Badges
Learning
Streaming
01/2017
06/2017
11/2017
04/2018
06/2018
Fall 2018
Innovation Team
Just Launched
Experience
Learning
“Virtual Conversation Partner (VCP), an exemplary inter-disciplinary
project initiated by Academic Affairs, (faculty in Computer Science, Art
and Design and Linguistics) and Technology Services, Office of
Innovation, Research, and Development. Your research expertise
provides student researchers with growth opportunities, provides the
American English Institute (AEI) with a potentially valuable tool, and
will burnish the positive images of the university.”
-- Co-sponsorship of Dr. Nef, Vice Provost and Mr. Leon, CIO
3 Undergraduate Research Students / 3 Faculty Researcher
Mentors exploring AI-powered Natural Language Understanding,
User Experience Design, and ESL; AND, 3 Internship Students /
2 Professional Staff and 1 Business Partner pursuing Software
Development, Project Management, and Business Development.

Vision / Strategies
We are committed to exploring emerging technologies,
creating a campus culture of innovations, and preparing
student leaders for the future.
We’re working with and constantly looking for top student talents,
faculty researchers, and professional staff experts at the critical early
stages of harnessing emerging technologies to create innovative
products, solutions, or services that will contribute to Central Valley
economy.

Framework ● Discover
Opportunity: Notice
new things and gather
insights.
● Define the Idea:
Ideation / Emphasizing
● Develop Designs:
Proof of Concept
● Demonstration
Feasibility: Solution
Delivery and
Sustainability Planning
Collaboration, Engagement, and Incubation

DxI: The Next Bold Idea
The Hub of Digital Transformation and Incubation (DxI) will boost
innovation at Fresno State. DxI will provide a unique leadership
experience where Fresno State students will explore how current
technology can strategically impact change by leveraging
innovation and leadership skills.
Jointly with our campus community and the industrial partners, DxI coordinates programs
for teams of students seeking to answer specific, real-world problems posed by industry
to provide students experiential learning opportunities. DxI offers collaborative project
spaces, Design Thinking framework, emerging technology support, and training and
guidance in developing the ideas that power Digital Transformation (Dx) to solve
world-class problems.
http://ignite.fresnostate.edu/

Considerations and Lessons Learned
● Value of Innovation
● Context and Culture
● Organizational Structures and Organizational Awareness
● Change Leadership
● Strategic Leadership

Questions
Orlando Leon oleon@csufresno.edu
Max J. Tsai janq@csufresno.edu

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