Executive Summary 

Summary of the Year 
The Maxwell School’s Information and Computing Technology group (ICT) blends the design, implementation, and servicing of the School’s technology environment  with active research and education programs related to information technology policy and management. This merging of practical technology concerns with traditional  academic activities is structured to be supportive of the School’s mission. 
 
Information technology (IT) has become increasingly integrated into all aspects of the life of the School such that the implementation and adoption of advanced technologies  changes the way faculty, staff, and students do their work and, importantly, the ways in which the various Maxwell programs relate to one another and to the outside  world. In this regard, ICT has continued to develop and support a reliable and resilient IT environment that is supportive of individual and collaborative work and that warrants  the trust and confidence of the Maxwell community. 
 
Major accomplishments have included the significant renovation of the Global Collaboratory, significant modifications to the graduate student orientation program,  holding the Maxwell computing environment harmless in the face of viruses, worms, and other external threats to our computing environment, implementation of a direct  communication link between SU/Maxwell and the Greenberg House in Washington, DC supporting videoconferencing and data connectivity, design and implementation of a  survey to measure satisfaction with technology and services, participation in the redesignation of SU as an NSA Center of Excellence, and initiation of a Trusted Information  Sharing Project with the Syracuse Police Department and SU Department of Public Safety. These accomplishments are detailed in subsequent sections. 
 
Major challenges include the demand on ICT staff to support events outside of normal business hours, the need to extend ICT services to spaces outside of the Maxwell/Eggers complex, substantially increased use of data storage, systems assurance issues due primarily to the increasing number of virus and worm attacks, and working  with the Dean to resolve issues relating to the continued inclusion of research and graduate training within the ICT mission. 
 
The body of this report will describe the mission, history, and governance of ICT as well as provide an overview of this past year’s major accomplishments and challenges  in technical infrastructure, service, communications, and research and graduate training. 
 
The report concludes with a discussion of the status of last year’s goals and details of goals for the 2004-2005 year.

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