New vice-rectorate establishes a strategic area for the university
Text: Caroline Pires
Going beyond operational tasks and incorporating the strategic dimension of the Technology, Information and Communication (TIC) area. With this vision, the University Council (Consuni) of UFG approved, last Friday, September 18th, the creation of the Vice-Rectorate of Information and Communication Technology (Protic), replacing the current Technology and Information Secretariat (SeTI), established in 2018. Maintaining the currently linked bodies, namely the Computer Resources Center (Cercomp), the Information, Documentation and Archive Center (Cidarq) and the Telecommunications Directorate (DTel), Protic expands its scope, operating intensively on strategic topics, including information security, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and digital governance as an institutional priority at UFG. The creation of the vice-rectorate was approved unanimously.Besides improving digital services, greater system stability, data security and protection, the creation of Protic represents a profound restructuring of how the area is perceived and developed at the University. “The creation of Protic is not just a name or organizational change. It is the recognition that digital transformation has become a structuring condition for the university to fulfill its public mission with security, efficiency, innovation and quality for the entire UFG community,” defended the current Secretary of Technology and Information at UFG, Juliana Zinader.
In her report, the process's rapporteur and UFG's Vice-Rector for Graduate Studies, Laura Vilela, highlighted that this change is suitable to UFG's organizational structure in service of its institutional mission. “Currently, technological infrastructure, institutional systems, data, interoperability, information security, artificial intelligence, digital transformation and digital services are essential elements for the functioning of teaching, research, extension, innovation and university management activities,” considered the rapporteur.
Emphasizing the relevance of the strategic vision of the Rectorate with this creation, Igor Vieira, director of Cercomp, reminded that in 2018 the establishment of SeTI marked the beginning of the area's valuation. “I believe that from now on we will have new structures to deal with more robustly with institutional demands. With Protic, we will have specific directorates that will look beyond daily demands and think about a future of opportunities and innovation,” he pointed out.
Reminding that the historical trajectory demonstrates the fundamental role of IT development throughout UFG's history, Rector Sandramara Matias Chaves highlighted that we are living an impressive moment in the Artificial Intelligence area, “but behind any AI, it is people who make everything possible. We have enormous challenges for teaching, research, extension and innovation, but this moment undoubtedly marks an advance that moves me.”
Reminding that the historical trajectory demonstrates the fundamental role of IT development throughout UFG's history, Rector Sandramara Matias Chaves emphasized that we are living an impressive moment in the Artificial Intelligence area, “but it is people behind any AI who make it possible. We face enormous challenges in teaching, research, extension and innovation, but this moment undoubtedly marks an advance that fills me with emotion.”