JISC

To investigate the methods by which UK higher and further education institutions sustain their ICT infrastructure

JISC is inviting bids to investigate three key areas of the management of ICT within UK higher and further education. The areas are:

• the sustainability of ICT infrastructure within institutions
• the extent of integration of information systems within individual institutions
• restrictions upon staff access to ICT based communications

These projects are both significant and timely in the context of the current ICT/e-strategies of government and funding councils and of the development of individual institutions. The common theme is the capability of institutions to build, sustain and to exploit fully an ICT infrastructure and systems that will support the institution's strategic educational and managerial goals. In each case, the project represents the first, exploratory steps towards identifying, quantifying and analysing the issues and the ways in which they are currently managed, with a view to providing future guidance on good practice for institutions.

This particular ITT is to investigate the methods by which UK higher and further education institutions sustain their ICT infrastructure.

Funds of up to £50,000 are available to produce a report on the main strategies and practices to sustain and develop ICT and information systems infrastructure currently in use in a sample of UK higher and further education institutions, together with a critical analysis of their effectiveness.

The project is expected to last six months. It should start as soon as possible and no later than mid-April 2006 with completion by mid-October 2006.