Digital Infrastructure

The new normal in higher education environments is the expectation to have access to the Internet 24/7. Whether for email access, surfing the web, library research, videoconferencing, or more intense activities like computer science computations for large grant projects, the reliance on a stable network on the higher education campus cannot be overstated. Gumport and Chun (2005) list three arenas in higher education that advancements in technology can potentially influence: (1) the nature of knowledge, (2) the process of teaching and learning and, (3) the social organization of teaching and learning. The new normal of always on connections means that there is a fourth arena of influence: digital infrastructure.

Digital infrastructure has redefined the role of the CIO, changed the way co-worker share documents, communicate and collaborate, thrust academic technology into the face-to-face classroom, and created virtual classrooms for asynchronous and synchronous distance education. The expectations for it have become like the campus bus system: continuous, and reliant. When the campus cruiser bus is late or doesn't show up, riders notice and are upset. When the network goes down or runs slow, users notice. The other 95% of the time, it is as transparent as the the buses.

Cyberinfrastructure is the network used to support high speed scientific computers, data mining, data acquisition, data integration, and other computing and information processing for scientific research. It is often associated with the Internet2 project and high level computing and research in STEM fields. Digital infrastructure is the basic backbone of the everyday functions of the higher education campus. Information technologists on campus talk about how big the campus "pipe" is to control the flow of information in and out of the network. Like the PC that is out-of-date five years after it is purchased, continuous updates to the network "pipe" are needed to support the vast amounts of data traveling across campus and out to the world wide web. Digital infrastructure is essential to support institutionally adopted technologies including Enterprise Business Systems, Email, web portals (institutional and other web pages), and Course Management Systems. The capital investment in these systems, in particular the Course Management System, makes it imperative that the network delivers the content.

Guidry and BrckaLoren (2010) report that students and faculty use Course Management Systems much more frequently than any other technology. More than blogs, videos, games, voice or videoconferencing, and collaborative editing tools. (i.e. Google docs) As constraints on budgets continue to reign on campus, what is the obligation of institutions to expand the infrastructure for systems running outside of the institutionally invested and supported line-up? Perhaps it doesn't matter as long as the intent and purpose of the system is to serve the institutional goals of teaching and learning. Or it does matter and centralization of servers and services trumps just-in-time individualized service at the departmental level to streamline the growth of the network pipe.