What you need to know
Acquisition of Smartwatches, (e.g. Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, android watches) and Fitness Trackers (including Fitbit) is restricted (you may not purchase these with Berkeley Lab funds through any channel except as below).
Division Director Approval and a Brief Justification are required.
IT will seek approvals and procure on your behalf.
Start a request by opening a helpdesk ticket with the model you wish to purchase and the justification.
Additional details below.
Background
Berkeley Lab IT strongly believes that PIs and Managers are in the best position to determine what technology they need to do their work. We provide very limited direction or control to scientific divisions in selecting the right computing to accomplish the scientific work.
However, there are a few services and items which are restricted. You can learn more about some of them here: https://commons.lbl.gov/display/cio/Institutional+Services
We recently made the judgment that the procurement of Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers represents an area that should require another layer of approvals. Our judgment is based on the relatively limited set of productivity features of these devices at this time and concern regarding the perception of these as luxury items (even though there are no doubt scientific use cases).
Interim Policy
The following interim policy is now in place for scientific divisions:
Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers are now a Group 2 (Controlled) Item on the Restricted Items List
Acquisition of Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers by staff in scientific divisions is subject to approval by the Cognizant Division Director.
A short justification is required.
Additional justification is required for deviations from the “base models” of these devices. These deviations will be carefully scrutinized to ensure that no violation of the “luxury items” prohibition takes place.
IT Division will process the approvals and maintain the documentation of the justification.
IT Division will procure the item on the behalf of the requester.
In addition, for Operations Divisions and LD Divisions:
The CIO or Deputy CIO will review and approve/reject all purchases of these devices for Operations or LD staff.
To initiate a request for an approval and purchase, please open a ticket at help.lbl.gov with the specific item requested and the scientific/business justification for the purchase (short). IT will seek the additional approvals required and will procure on your behalf.
Authority
RPM Lifecycle Management for IT Hardware, Software, and Services
Institutional Services:
Restricted Items List:
