In 2025, University of Kentucky Information Technology Services (UK ITS) continued its mission to empower education, research, healthcare, and service to the Commonwealth through dependable, secure, and forward-looking technology. Building on the momentum of prior years, UK ITS focused on modernizing foundational systems, strengthening trust and security, and expanding innovation that directly benefits students, employees, researchers, clinicians, and communities across Kentucky.
Delivering Value Through Modern, Reliable Services
Providing dependable technology at scale remained a core focus throughout 2025. UK ITS executed large-scale network upgrades across academic, research, and healthcare facilities, including Markey Cancer Center, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, Eastern State Hospital, and the McVey Data Center. These upgrades improved performance, resiliency, and wireless coverage in high-traffic and mission-critical environments, while retiring aging infrastructure like the legacy analog telephony systems.
UK ITS also advanced the new myUK portal by redesigning and streamlining the system, making it more intuitive for students, faculty, and staff. By launching preview phases for students and employees and incorporating extensive feedback to improve usability and accessibility, UK community feedback has been an integral part of the project. The portal is positioned for a full enterprise launch in early 2026, representing a major step toward simplifying the University’s digital landscape.
UK ITS delivered essential enhancements in SAP, supporting HR benefits, tuition and fee calculations, compliance workflows, and student-facing services. Teams worked diligently to support healthcare operations with Epic training, infusion pump integration, ambulatory system improvements, and targeted AI-enabled features that reduced administrative burden and improved patient care.
Strengthening Trust, Security, and Accountability
As technology environments grow more complex, UK ITS continued to prioritize cybersecurity, compliance, and risk assessment. In 2025, the Enterprise Cybersecurity team enhanced threat detection and response through automation, strengthening phishing defenses, credential protection, and vulnerability management. These efforts were paired with policy development and compliance initiatives, including updated authentication standards and implementation of federal requirements such as Executive Order 14117.
Cybersecurity education and preparedness remained central to these efforts. UK_CYBERCON 2025 brought together students, professionals, and partners to explore cyber careers, emerging threats, and best practices, while tabletop exercises and training programs reinforced resilience across the enterprise.
UK ITS also modernized account and access governance, implemented changes to retiree accounts, and strengthened privileged access controls. In health care and enterprise systems, teams supported regulatory compliance efforts, improved reporting automation, and modernized the UK HealthCare Enterprise Data Warehouse — converting more than 95 dashboards to Power BI and achieving significant cost savings while improving decision-making capabilities.
Investing in People and Community
UK ITS recognizes that technology excellence is driven by people. In 2025, teams shared expertise at national conferences such as HIMSS, EDUCAUSE, and Supercomputing 2025, while earning recognition through programs like Epic’s Honor Roll. Community-building initiatives, including the IT Community of Practice and K-12 outreach, fostered collaboration, professional growth, and pathways into technology careers.
Students remained a key focus as well. UK ITS powered the second year of the Student Tech Checklist during the annual Tech Takeover, helping new students begin their academic journey with confidence and the tools they need to succeed.
Advancing Innovation in Research and Healthcare
Innovation in 2025 centered on expanding cloud, AI, and research computing capabilities. UK ITS successfully migrated Epic and UK HealthCare Citrix environments to Microsoft Azure, completing major phases of Project Blue-Connect and enabling scalable, secure health care delivery. Teams also completed the transition from the legacy EII system to HealthConnect, improving reliability and interoperability for electronic health record data exchange.
AI adoption accelerated across the enterprise. UK ITS deployed AI tools within Epic and Microsoft platforms, expanded ambient clinical documentation through Nuance DAX, and introduced AI-powered analytics in Epic and Power BI. These technologies improved documentation efficiency, supported clinical decision-making, and strengthened patient engagement through tools like MyChart Bedside.
Research Computing Infrastructure continued to expand, reaching approximately 5 petaflops of compute capacity, 35,000+ compute cores, and 35 petabytes of storage. New resources such as the EduceLab Compute Cluster and advanced GPU nodes enabled AI-driven research across disciplines, while national partnerships through NSF ACCESS and statewide collaborations extended UK’s impact beyond campus.
Extending Technology Across Kentucky
UK ITS continued to advance technology throughout the Commonwealth by strengthening statewide networks and partnerships. Updates to KyRON improved monitoring and incident response, while expanded connectivity supported remote programs, rural healthcare, and community institutions. Through Project Blue-Connect, Workday and SailPoint integrations, and Community Connect readiness efforts, UK ITS reinforced its role as a trusted technology partner across Kentucky’s education and healthcare landscape.
Together, these efforts reflect a year defined by collaboration, modernization, and purpose-driven innovation. In 2025, UK ITS not only supported the University of Kentucky’s mission — but helped shape its future through technology that is secure, inclusive, and built to serve the Commonwealth.