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use and their approach to work. Some key indicators of a # GenMobile worker are the propensity to work non-traditional hours, demands for a flexible work location and requests for reliable internet, favouring wifi over 4G, 3G or wired connections.
This increasingly mobile workforce has brought with it a wave of change in the education industry. Whilst these mobile workers can improve efficiencies and productivity by working remotely, they have also come to expect employers and institutions to make policy and structural changes to enable their preferred form of working. And this is where many educational institutions can come unstuck.
The # GenMobile challenge calls
Students on today’ s university networks want fast, flexible wifi access; institutions that provide it can get ahead, provided they limit the inherent risks.
By Mark Verbloot
There’ s no doubt a university campus presents a complex IT environment. Students, teachers, administration employees and casual staff all bring a variety of devices on site, and with them a range of risky behaviours that can directly affect the security of corporate and personal data.
Employees and students are adopting new technologies rapidly – even before IT departments have the chance to create user guidelines or policies. Universities need to better understand how to manage an increasingly mobile generation in order to maintain a safe and secure learning environment.
Next-generation demands Many of the complexities associated with a university’ s technology environment can be attributed to the rise of # GenMobile. This emerging breed of workers, students and teachers is forcing employers and organisations in Australia to make the workplace more mobile-friendly.
A recent study shows the typical # GenMobile student or worker relies heavily on mobile devices for every aspect of work and personal communication, and stays connected to everything, all the time, regardless of their physical location. They’ re defined by their preference for mobility, both in terms of the devices they
Piling up the risks In a recent report commissioned by Aruba Networks, employees in the education sector show they are increasingly favouring a # GenMobile approach. The Running the Risk report revealed that a number of gaps in security practices in the corporate workplace now extend to the campus and even into the classroom – all initiated by an increasingly‘ pro-risk’ mobile workforce. The prolific use of social media by # GenMobile has also encouraged a readiness to share information at the click of a button, and this willingness to share can unwittingly extend to corporate information.
The risk report surveyed more than 11,500 employees from 23 countries, including Australia, and found that # GenMobile has instigated a culture of sharing, openness and risk in workplaces around the world. Whilst risk can sometimes be good for business, it’ s important to manage it effectively.
Globally, the results indicated teachers themselves need a strong lesson on security, as educators scored lower than members of all other industries when asked if they password-protected their personal smartphones.
An encouraging sign for Australia is that these figures are not mirrored locally. In fact, Australian educators are leading the way in safer and more secure mobile work practices. The study revealed that Australian educators and public-sector workers were the least likely to use autosave passwords in applications or on websites( 3 per cent). Healthcare and hightech workers were the most likely( 8 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively).
This by no means indicates the level of importance placed on IT security in education institutions is sufficient.
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