Jisc and UCISA become formal partners
Jisc and UCISA (the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association) have formalised their working partnership with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
This official partnership formalises the already successful collaboration between both organisations. It will help define projects and programmes of work, enabling Jisc and UCISA to work together in an even more effective and complimentary way.
Jisc’s executive secretary, Dr Malcolm Read, said: ‘It is essential Jisc works in collaboration with professional and expert bodies to ensure our activities are well-informed, relevant and provide value for money and high impact. This partnership agreement is a tangible sign of this commitment and is very welcomed.’Tinson added: ‘UCISA and Jisc have a long history of collaboration. I look forward to building our relationship further through this partnership and to working together to help institutions meet the challenges of the difficult times ahead.’
UCISA’s Peter Tinson highlighted existing examples of UCISA’s collaboration with Jisc, including the Information Security Toolkit – a set of guidelines designed to help institutions reap the benefits of ICT whilst protecting themselves from online threats. Several briefing papers have also been produced in tandem, including an overview on outsourcing email and data storage.
Jisc-sponsored Guardian supplement
This new partnership coincides with a Jisc-sponsored Guardian supplement published today (31 March 2009). The articles raise awareness of UCISA’s recent ‘Top Concerns’ poll of IT Service Directors and education professionals.
This supplement describes work already being done by both organisations with relation to the principal concerns. It investigates how technology and globalization are affecting higher education and the student experience. It also considers the longer-term sustainability of IT; finance and funding on ever-tightening budgets; outsourcing email and data storage; and the skills gap between learners and teachers.
For further information on the ‘Top Concerns’ survey (which singled out funding and the sustainable resourcing of IT as the community’s top concern) visit the UCISA website.