The vice provost for information technology and chief information officer (CIO) oversees the university’s technology infrastructure, data management and digital strategy. Working closely with advisory and governance groups, the CIO leads the development, delivery and support of university-wide IT services, including network operations, cybersecurity, digital teaching and learning systems and research computing resources. The CIO leads technology planning and policy development to support academic programs, research initiatives and administrative operations while ensuring data privacy and regulatory compliance.
Didier Contis joined UW–Madison as vice provost for information technology and CIO in July 2025. Before that, he served as executive director of academic technology, innovation and research computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is active nationally in the higher education community, having served in leadership and governance roles with EDUCAUSE and has co-authored publications on cybersecurity, network intrusion detection and educational technology and is an advocate for the safe and responsible use of extended reality technologies in higher education. During his 26 years at Georgia Tech, he co-founded innovative technology initiatives, serving in leadership roles on projects advancing research computing and academic technology infrastructure. He has taught classes focused on using data to make better decisions and is interested in applying knowledge graphs for data analytics.
Knowledge management can help institutional teams become more familiar with their enterprise artificial intelligence tools while also restricting those tools' access where needed. Knowledge Management for Safer AI is issue #5 in the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10.
Few technology purchasing decisions can be made without first understanding their costs, potential benefits, and impacts. Measured Approaches to New Technologies is issue #6 in the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10.
As extended reality continues to be adopted in colleges and universities, higher education leaders need to consider regulatory and ethical implications. The authors offer a three-phased implementation approach.
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