SJSU’s Digital Transformation Wins Best Achievement and Platinum Awards

SJSU won two awards at the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Industry Awards for its digital transformation journey.

Photo: David Schmitz

Nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, the institution setting the pace for digital transformation isn’t a Fortune 500 company as some might assume.

Instead, it is San José State University, according to an independent panel of leading thinkers and digital practitioners from top tech companies and organizations such as Amazon, Google  and GE Healthcare.

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Industry Awards, held last week in Orlando, honored SJSU with two prestigious awards, the Platinum Award and the Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver Digital Transformation. The awards recognized SJSU’s digital transformation journey, a four-year process to make the university a leader in the digital space that President Mary A. Papazian highlighted in a blog post in October. 

The Platinum Award, considered the grand prize, is the highest honor given to the most outstanding business achievement across all award-winning categories. The winner is selected by all of the Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence category winners. The recognition leaves little doubt that San José State University is a technology forward organization.

“These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire university,” said President Papazian. “I truly am delighted that our campus has received this well-deserved recognition, and I congratulate our Information Technology division and everyone else in our campus community who contributed to our digital transformation.”

The Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence Industry Awards were established to showcase globally the most outstanding achievements and results of those organizations that have successfully implemented digital transformation, operational excellence and innovation programs and initiatives. 

President Papazian kicked off SJSU’s digital transformation in 2017 when she hired Bob Lim, vice president of information technology and chief information officer. The transformation had three key strategic objectives to help SJSU propel and excel in the ever-changing digital landscape: Create a modern, technology-enabled digital university where our campus community can work, teach, and learn anywhere, anyplace, anytime; drive campus toward fully paperless by 2024; and elevate campus service experience.

“These exciting and prestigious awards belong to President Papazian and our entire SJSU community, as they uniquely signify the success of the four-year, campus-wide, and cooperative efforts to advance our digital footprint,” said Bob Lim, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Technology Officer.