Q&A with Marijke Folgering, programme manager for Digital Autonomy

The University of Groningen is working to reduce its dependence on large commercial tech companies and aims to use digital systems that safeguard academic freedom, independence and data security.

Marijke Folgering took up the position as programme manager and digital autonomy quartermaster on 1 August. In this interview, she talks about her motivations, her focus since taking up the role and her plans for the near future.

What is your background and what drives you in the field of digital autonomy?

I have an MSc in Computer Science and extensive experience as an IT consultant and project manager. I have been working at the University Library since 2015. There, I worked on gaining an understanding of our information landscape. I took an architectural approach, with a focus on governance: clearly defining responsibilities and decision-making processes. Architecture helps us to see the connections between systems, information and processes, and to anticipate the consequences of decisions in advance. This is important for realising our strategic ambitions.

What drives me in my work is ensuring that information can be put to good use and that we retain control over our own data. Unfortunately, partly without realising it, we have become increasingly dependent on a number of suppliers who do not meet our standards, in particular Big Tech companies. That is why we need exit strategies and must look for alternatives and agreements that align with our criteria for digital autonomy.

I see digital autonomy as a fundamental prerequisite – just like privacy and security – for safeguarding academic freedom and the integrity of teaching and research. That is why I am keen to ensure that we, as the University of Groningen, can achieve our ambitions set out in this programme.

What have you been doing since you started?

I am currently working on further detailing the roadmap for the coming year, in the form of a programme plan. To inform this, I want to identify as soon as possible where the greatest urgency lies for the University of Groningen, so that we can make different choices.

We have been developing and testing Nextcloud for some time now; it can offer an alternative to a large part of the current Google Suite. Within the University of Groningen, we’ve had around ten years’ experience with this, under the name Unishare. That’s important groundwork to build on.

We are also in the process of setting up an application procedure for the kick-start fund, which will enable UG staff and students to take their first steps, for example by experimenting with open-source tools or other alternatives. In addition, the website is now live, featuring information about the programme and a quick-start guide to digital autonomy, which lists better and already available alternatives to applications that can be used at work. We’re also asking our community to actively contribute suggestions in this regard.

There will also be a new Digital Autonomy Fair for the UG community on 27 October, this time at Zernike Campus; the first edition in February was already a great success.

Finally, we have begun to ensure that our procurement process takes digital autonomy into account. This starts with informing suppliers (during the tendering process) about our ambitions in this area and asking how their systems can safeguard the public values we strive for, for example by using open standards and ensuring that data from the system can be transferred upon termination of the contract. A follow-up step that will take more time is drawing up the criteria we wish to set (where possible, in relation to the risks). As these need to be balanced against other requirements and criteria, for example, regarding privacy, security and quality, coordination and decision-making on this matter are complex, but we have made a start!

What will your focus be in the coming period?

We’ll be launching a digital autonomy assessment later this year. This means we’ll be examining a number of the University of Groningen’s systems to identify the risks we face, the scale of the impact should something go wrong, and our mitigation capacity, that is, the extent to which we’re already able to limit the risks and their impact. Based on the findings, we can determine which measures are necessary and in what order of priority. We will certainly be doing this for the UG’s most business-critical systems, such as AFAS and Brightspace, and will then assess whether it makes sense to extend this to more or all university systems.

In addition to this risk-based approach, we want to continue with community-focused activities. We encourage faculties, services, researchers, lecturers and support staff to contribute their own expertise, needs and priorities, so that we can align with the university’s day-to-day practices and academic requirements. Through the programme, we offer support by sharing knowledge, establishing connections, and exploring and utilising alternative solutions.

How are you collaborating on this topic within the University of Groningen?

For this university-wide programme, I am seeking collaboration with all faculties and services. Recently, I have mainly been focusing on getting to know people within the CIT, to complement my existing network within the University Library.

I am now actively seeking ‘points of contact’ within the faculties to gain a better understanding of the developments already underway there, the concerns that exist and what is needed. I certainly expect to establish links with the Privacy & Security coordinators and would also like to hear from the demand managers about current issues.

I’d also love to hear from anyone else I could team up with. Suggestions are welcome via digitalautonomy rug.nl!