JISC

Joint Information Systems Committee

Northavon House
Coldharbour Lane
BRISTOL BS16 1QD

Telephone (+44) 272 317451
Facsimile (+44) 272 317255

1 July 1993

To: Heads of institutions funded by the HEFCs or by DENI
Copies: Directors of Computer Centres
Information Services Directors of those institutions

JISC Circular 1/93

The New Technology Initiative

An invitation to bid for grants from JISC.

Summary

• The Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales, and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI), through the Joint Information Systems Committee, intend to build on the work of the Universities Funding Council's Information Systems Committee in identifying and promoting key information technologies, and making these open to students and researchers, who might not otherwise have these available to them. In doing so, they will wish to emphasise the impact of projects on educational content and delivery, and on provision for transferring the results and benefits to all HE institutions.
• The Funding Councils have agreed to the allocation of pounds 2M in the current year. Proposals are invited for projects to receive support from this sum, within the categories and framework described below.
• All proposals should be submitted by 5 October 1993 at the latest. Those institutions which are able to submit complete proposals by 3 August 1993 should do so; it may be possible to award up to one-third of the total allocation to such proposals if they have particular merit. After the final date, full consideration will be given to all bids before the final balance is awarded.

Background and General Aims

• Future Information Systems will provide great flexibility and diversity, and it is important that students and researchers should have access to the most recent technical developments in order to ensure a well informed, trained and educated community, able to provide support for the continuous development and full functionality of Information Systems in the future. However, the range and diversity of potential developments is such that it would not be possible for all institutions to provide access to these without very great cost and unnecessary duplication.
• This initiative aims to encourage lead group and prototype developments, so as to spearhead advances which can offer significant benefits and lead ultimately to managed transfer and wide use by HE institutions. The projects are to be balanced across current and future needs, and will contribute to a long term objective of ensuring that teaching and research in information systems within Higher Education are focused on the current state of the art.

Scope of the Initiative and Funding Arrangements

• Categories of support to be considered include:
  a. Medium scale projects, which identify the prospect of substantial benefit from technologies including, for example, graphics; Intelligent Knowledge Based Systems (IKBS) and other knowledge representation systems, such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and natural language development; multi-media; and parallel environments.
  b. Small scale higher risk projects by individuals seen to show significant promise and relevance in their existing work programmes.
• In the academic year 93/4, funds will be distributed so that the award for any one project will not exceed the following limits:
  a. pounds 100,000 for medium projects normally extending over a three year period.
  b. pounds 25,000 for smaller projects running for one or two years.