Tech-Exec 18 - Craig Napier Brochure

C R A I G NAPIER

A BRIGHT DATA FUTURE

CRAIG NAPIER, UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY’S CDO, ON HIS VISIONARY APPROACH TO A BRIGHTER, DATAENRICHED FUTURE. SUPPORTED BY:

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Holding the title of Chief Data Officer (CDO) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Napier’s visionary approach is steering UTS toward a brighter, data-enriched future.

With over two decades of experience in data-intensive environments on a global scale, Craig Napier brings an impressive wealth of knowledge to his role. However, it’s his remarkable 15-year tenure as a data and analytics executive in the higher education sector that truly sets him apart. Napier is renowned for his collaborative ethos, a quality that has greatly benefited UTS and the broader data and analytics community.

Notably, Napier’s outstanding contributions earned him recognition from the Institute of

Analytics Professionals of Australia (IAPA) in 2020, where he was ranked among the Top 3 Analytics Leaders in Australia. This accolade attests to his unwavering commitment to advancing the field of data analytics and nurturing the next wave of analytical leaders.

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In the dynamic landscape of higher education, where informed decision-making and data utilisation have become paramount, Craig Napier emerges as a leading force in this journey.

As the Inaugural Chief Data Officer at UTS, Napier is orchestrating a holistic institutional approach to data, analytics, and operational Artificial Intelligence (AI). His goal is to foster a shared vision that empowers proactive insights and evidence-based decisions throughout the university. To achieve this ambitious objective, Napier leads the Data Analytics and Insight (DAI) Unit, a crucial entity at UTS. “The DAI Unit is the driving force behind the implementation of UTS’s data strategy.

A key focus is placed on cultivating a whole-institution approach that maximises the use of data assets to inform evidencebased decisions. The unit oversees 11 3

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Data Management, Analytics and AI and Performance Evaluation, with a steadfast commitment to enhancing data asset usability, visibility, and collaborating to deliver actionable insights.

“Collaborating closely with data and systems managers across the university, the DAI Unit aligns itself with the UTS 2027 strategy, ensuring that data is used effectively to achieve the university’s goals in data management and performance measurement.”

Napier’s journey as CDO at UTS began in February 2020, coinciding with the onset of the global pandemic. This seemingly challenging timing, however, presented an opportunity to craft the UTS Data Strategy and operational model that not only helped UTS navigate the pandemic’s complexities, but also established a framework for long-term

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value delivery. “Central to this transformation is a recognition of the vital role played by UTS’s staff, characterised by their high skills, inquisitiveness, and willingness to explore uncharted territories. Their collective prowess has become the foundation for fostering a data-driven culture where evidence-based decisions reign supreme.”

RESPONSIVE CAPABILITIES Napier says UTS’ many skilled staff are always needing improved access to data.

Earlier in his employment, previous tools were not meeting the emerging needs of the university community. And by the time the required reporting was developed, business had moved on. The team saw they needed to be more responsive to the ever-changing needs of the university.

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“Listening to the community and evaluating new tools and capabilities, UTS landed on Microsoft Power BI as our visualisation and reporting tool.

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“The collaboration and willingness to share knowledge, experiences, and expertise on the use of Power BI has seen the community grow, enabling development of new skills across the university.”

“Power BI offers several benefits for individuals and organisations looking to perform data analysis and reporting like the rich user interface, which makes it easy to share insights across the university, and self-serve, from a single trusted authoritative source.”

Napier and his team established and adopted data visualisation standards across central and local developments. Its self-service capability has seen faster time to value, elimination of bottlenecks in report development and improved access to data, with over 52% of staff actively using the system in the last 12 months – a 180% increase in usage as at the same time last year.

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through informed decision-making.” The ability to leverage and access world class research and academic expertise in AIML at UTS has been invaluable in supporting and executing the UTS Data Strategy.

This is almost opposite to what accessing information was like previously at the university – data and analytics teams were dispersed throughout the institution, which was a challenge. “As the significance of data-driven insights became evident, it became imperative to refocus on data and reallocate resources to best implement the data strategy,” Napier says. “The creation of the CDO office was a response to this need, with a primary responsibility to establish a solid data foundation and introduce innovative approaches to working, all guided by datadriven insights and actions.

Napier says they will continue to see the importance of data and analytics in driving evidence-based decisions, becoming an essential skill all people should possess whatever career they choose to pursue.

“This strategic shift towards data, driven by the CDO office, aims to ensure the university can harness the full potential of emerging technologies and maintain a competitive edge

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“The collaboration and willingness to share knowledge, experiences, and expertise on the use of Power BI has seen the community grow, enabling development of new skills and digital capabilities across the university,” he says.

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“My role as a leader has been about developing and creating the next wave of analytics leaders with the skills they need to succeed,” he says, having built and transformed the team’s capabilities from data analysts and report developers into data engineers and analytics professionals. Napier says whilst change can be seen as a challenge, the team thrived as they built new skills in data engineering, data science, user experience, human centred design, visualisation, and data governance that supported the curiosity and commitment of staff in lifelong learning.

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PEOPLE POTENTIAL “Our people are the key – I have an amazingly talented team that focuses on building a positive community. They possess not only technical skills, but have a genuine curiosity, a willingness to explore and a rich contextual understanding of the potential of data beyond a single data domain,” he adds.

When it comes to talent, data and analytics roles are in such high demand and the community is struggling to find the right people.

However, it is Napier’s strong belief that talent exists within your organisation now – as it does at UTS – “to drive the required cultural change, which includes providing opportunities for people to develop data and digital skills, encouraging, and driving for collaboration, leveraging emerging technologies, and building team and organisational relationships.”

“Building an analytic organisation is very rewarding and something I enjoy, and to understand services required will assist you in shifting project funding to embedding data and analytics into your organisation’s DNA. This creates flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness to harness data value on emerging opportunities and threat mitigation,” Napier says.

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Napier developed the enterprise wide UTS Data and Analytics Strategy, which identified several data challenges and opportunities to enhance and deliver new university services.

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Another passion of Napier’s is developing data strategies – but like any strategy, it’s about understanding the operational environment and aligning to the strategic priorities of your organisation. “Having the ability to understand which types of services, and how best those services are delivered, is crucial. Form follows function – it is essential to understand the required business services and then develop an organisation best placed to deliver on them. To do otherwise would be to consider change for change’s sake,” he adds.

He explains the current data landscape required a strategic alignment of data and advanced analytics roles, initiatives, and capabilities to better support the divisions, faculties, and key decision makers to deliver meaningful and actionable insights that are evidence-based.

“In addition, there are many data challenges that increase exposure to data risks and inhibit responsiveness to emerging opportunities.

“It is imperative your data strategy is designed to support your strategic priorities and address the growing complexity and inefficiency of business processes in capturing and accessing data, lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities across teams, inconsistency in reporting, siloed disparate systems, ineffective data management practices and poor usability and user experiences,” Napier states.

For example, there has been a significant uptake in self-service analytics over the last three years of Napier’s employment at UTS, 11 9

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with over 50% of content being developed outside of a central team. “We’re starting to see more cases of reports driving decisions, and we’re measuring effectiveness of more of our activities.

“We are embarking on delivering new capabilities in AI and machine learning, which we will leverage to drive value for the university. This would not have been possible without the investment and focus on building robust and scalable data foundations and the ability to leverage the academic expertise and research that exists at UTS, that is world class,” he says.

An important focus of the UTS data strategy is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML), areas that present some amazing opportunities. Operationalisation and scalability of AI programs can be a challenge due to limited resources, and “this impacts the ability to run multiple initiatives concurrently.

Also, finding, acquiring, and recruiting data scientists that are in high demand, is time consuming, costly and is a retention risk, given market demand,” Napier explains.

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“My role as a leader has been about developing and creating the next wave of analytics leaders with the skills they need to succeed.”

“Data scientists prefer a coding language or familiarity and knowledge of a few models and algorithms. This can make things difficult.

“There is also a trade-off between maintaining existing models and developing new ones, and data scientists tend to like working on new initiatives. Maintenance is critical, especially when in production, as data drift can create some unintended consequences if not monitored carefully,” he says.

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With these challenges in mind and an increased focus on AIML, the team needed to implement technology that was able to address the problems they were experiencing.

After a procurement process the team selected DataRobot, which they have been using for the past year. “UTS leverages DataRobot to help solve key business problems (operations, education and students), simplify complexities in the ML lifecycle, plus AI experimentation, production, and consumption.

“UTS are excited by emerging opportunities to leverage technology partners, academic expertise and world class research, curiosity, and innovation to drive and uplift AI capabilities, including generative AI that will continue to enhance a data driven culture,” Napier says excitedly.

And according to him, 2024 will see the renewal of a new data and AI strategy and a further focus on enhancing and uplifting digital capabilities. “Looking back over the last three years, the amount of change in the

technological market has been significant.

I’m excited by the challenge this presents while remaining focused on developing our people for the new wave of technological advancements.

“This will further strengthen UTS data and AI capabilities for the betterment of our students, our partners and the community in which we operate, with the trust, and transparency of a socially responsible organisation,” Napier explains.

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DATA-DRIVEN CULTURE

Napier’s leadership at the University of Technology Sydney is a testament to the power of collaboration, data, and innovation in higher education. His vision and dedication are shaping UTS into a model for other institutions looking to harness the potential of data and analytics. With Napier at the helm, UTS is well-positioned to embrace the future, where data is the guiding light for proactive, informed decisions that drive success.

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