From June 9 to 12, Niagara College’s ITS department – with the help of FMS and Benchmark Restaurant – hosted 450 Ontario college IT professionals at the 2019 OCCCIO (Ontario College Council of Chief Information Officers) conference to learn, share, network and collaborate.
The theme for this year’s conference was “ITS not magic, IT’S IT,” alluding to all of the behind-the-scenes work that IT professionals do at Ontario colleges. NC played to the theme by putting a magical touch on the events, which included a live hack performed by keynote and world-famous hacker Kevin Mitnick, and a captivating show at the Greg Frewin Magic Theatre in Niagara Falls. Seventy sessions covered topics including cyber security, social engineering, and equal access to bridge the digital divide.
“The 2019 OCCCIO conference never would have happened without the drive and determination of all the staff in ITS, FMS and Benchmark Restaurant who came together to deliver a cohesive event,” said NC’s chief technology officer John Levay. “A special thanks to Sarah Scott, her staff, and the chefs who provided all the food. This was one of the biggest events we have ever hosted on campus and it went off without a hitch.”
The conference was also full of special touches unique to Niagara College and the Niagara region. In addition to a daily menu curated by Benchmark Restaurant, conference delegates enjoyed Beechwood Doughnuts and a tour and tasting at the Teaching Brewery.
With the conference coinciding with game five of the Raptors versus the Golden State Warriors, conference-goers could catch the game – broadcast in the tent at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus – while enjoying NC’s own student-crafted beverages from the Canadian Food and Wine Institute.
“What an amazing job Niagara College did with the conference this year. Such a beautiful campus and what nice people,” said the Mike Howe, manager of IT Project Services at Sheridan College.
The conference organizing team, led by ITS staff, received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants and vendors alike on the quality of food, event organization, and modern, physical space at Niagara College, as well as how well the sessions were linked to the conference theme. Vendor traffic in the gym was significant, with vendors reporting the most interactions of any conference they attended. Presenters commended the flexibility of NC’s learning spaces and the ease-of-use of in-classroom technology.
NC staff from ITS led a variety of sessions, including:
- ‘IT Security – Azure Cloud based Multi-factor Authentication’ led by Colin Bissell, network systems administrator;
- ‘Business Analysis within Higher Education’ led by Claire Rosati, associate director, Project Portfolio Office;
- ‘Niagara College’s OCAS XML Implementation’ led by Brandon Friesen, programmer/analyst;
- ‘Will Artificial Intelligence have a symbiotic or parasitic relationship to a Programmer/Analyst’s job?’ led by Lucia Nigro Stefanchuk, programmer/analyst;
- ‘The Data Governance Journey at Niagara College’ led by Levay, CTO;
- ‘CIO Roundtable’ moderated by Levay, CTO.
At the closing ceremonies on Wednesday, NC passed the torch – a symbolic Happy Meal, a reference to Theresa Payton’s Tuesday morning keynote – onto Durham College, who will host the 10th annual conference in 2020.
NC hosted the first OCCCIO conference in 2009.
