ذكذكتسئµ (ذكذكتسئµ) Leicester’s Chief Transformation and Resources Officer, Tracey Jessup, has been recognised as one of the country’s top technology leaders at a summit in London.
For the second year running, Tracey won a special recognition award from CIO UK 100, this year taking home the People, Culture and Collaboration award, having won the Public Sector award in 2024.
It’s also the fifth year running that Tracey has been named in the CIO UK 100 list, which celebrates leaders who are using IT and digital technology to transform organisations.
Tracey is spearheading ذكذكتسئµ’s Digital Transformation Strategy, which has helped the university establish itself as a technology leader within the education sector.
Tracey said: “I was surprised and delighted that in addition to being named in the CIO 100 again I received a special recognition award for the second year running.
It was an honour to receive the People, Culture and Collaboration award and as a people-centred leader to see the recognition of how I always look to put people at the heart of what we do. The judges made particular mention of our ذكذكتسئµ Digital Champions programme which was special as its success is down to the involvement of colleagues from across the university.”
At its core, ذكذكتسئµ’s Digital Transformation Strategy focuses on ensuring “Data, technology and digital that is fit for a leading, innovative and empowering University”, through the delivery of its three strategic objectives: Digital Working; Digital Mindset; and Change Management. Its scope includes creating inclusive, digital spaces for both students and the wider Leicester community and lifting more people out of digital poverty.
Last year, figures released by the government showed that 7.5 million people (nearly 20 per cent of UK adults) lacked essential digital skills that are needed for the workplace.
To avoid a skills gap at ذكذكتسئµ, Tracey has led the introduction of several initiatives including the Digital Champions which saw more than 200 ذكذكتسئµ staff train to increase their own digital literacy in order to help colleagues integrate more digital tools into their work and embrace technologically-driven solutions.
The scheme is now preparing to enrol its second cohort of staff members and is also being rolled out to students for the first time.
ذكذكتسئµ students are also benefiting from the development of a digital learning tech hub – a key step to creating a digitally connected campus.
The £6.5m hub was created with funding from the OfS to meet the demand for advanced digital skills and prepare students for the highly-skilled roles of the future.
It includes a Digital Creative Suite with motion tracking and image capture technologies in the Queens Building, which bridges the gap between computing and creative technologies.
It also offers students a cyber defence training network and a private cloud space, allowing learners to gain experience of real-world scenarios and gain advanced digital skills.
In a visit to ذكذكتسئµ earlier this year, Chief Executive of the Office for Students (OfS), Susan Lapworth, praised the university for “creating opportunities for students” through the hub.
ذكذكتسئµ also plays a key civic role in upskilling the businesses and communities across Leicestershire.
The university is helping businesses improve their cybersecurity through CPD workshops, which equip staff with the skills needed to protect organisations against cyber threats such as ransomware.
It is also leading a £76,000 project to redefine how cybersecurity training is delivered, ensuring professionals across a range of sectors, from logistics to law and creative industries to construction, can take part. The project will also see cybersecurity embedded into the curriculum for 93 schools and colleges across the region.
More than 250 school children in years seven and eight were invited on to campus to take part in the Teen Tech Festival.
Delivered in partnership with the charity Teen Tech and sponsored by tech firm Cirrus Logic, children were able to meet tech employers and use the university’s industry-leading equipment in the Digital Tech Learning Hub.
It’s hoped the event will encourage more young people to understand the opportunities available in the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) industries.
Posted on Friday 19 September 2025