Press release: Jisc unveils plans to invest extra £80m in UK education and research

Among the plans announced today were:

• 
  Repositories
  
  – support to provide institutions with policy advice and technical guidance on setting up digital repositories; funding to support institutions in developing a critical mass of content, and the provision of national structures to support searching across federated repositories.

• Network – extra funding to support the transition to the next-generation SuperJANET5 network; further development of the UK’s optical network for research communities – UKLight – and its integration into SuperJANET5.

• Digitisation – further investment in the digitisation of important scholarly resources; in collaboration with partners, the development of national digitisation and e-content strategies.

• e-Learning – working with the HE Academy to support the implementation of HEFCE’s e-learning strategy and the DfES’s e-strategy, including the establishing of a national e-learning advisory centre for the HE community.

• e-Research – development of a national e-infrastructure in support of the research community and in support of the DTi’s ‘Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004 -2014’.

• User Environments – build on the success of the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) programme to support researchers in using VREs in all disciplines: investigate the further extension of such environments to incorporate wider functions and to support other users, including those engaged in e-learning and e-administration.

Sir Ron Cooke, Chair of Jisc, said: “These activities represent an important milestone in the continued development of our national e-infrastructure and the engagement with ICT of UK education and research. The wide range of activities covered in these plans will bring widespread benefits to the higher education and research communities, and Jisc is delighted to have been entrusted with what are significant funds for further investment.”

Sir Howard Newby, Chief Executive of HEFCE, welcomed the announcement of Jisc’s plans, saying: “The UK leads the world in the use of ICT to support education and research, but continued investment is crucial to the future competitiveness of both. These ambitious plans mean that the UK will be well placed to exploit the full potential of ICT for many years to come.” 

For further information:

Contact Philip Pothen