JISC

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Executive Summary

The new JISC strategy for 2010–2012 comes amid serious economic recession in the UK and abroad, and in a period of unprecedented change in communication and information technologies. JISC will therefore seek to continue seeding capability and collaborative working in the sector whilst at the same time enable students, researchers and teachers to thrive and excel in a digitally enabled world and equip universities and colleges with new ways of working faster and better than the competition.

The strategy seeks to emphasise activities designed to bring benefits to the education sector in the short term, while at the same time maintaining investment in those projects with mid and long term benefits: in particular, programmes or services that help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of universities and colleges, to reduce costs in the short term, and to enhance the competitiveness of education and research and the economy. Developing more environmental approaches to Information Communications Technology (ICT), particularly those that reduce fuel bills, is part of this agenda. JISC’s priorities are outlined here:

e-Learning culture

A significantly enhanced culture of e-learning is expected to be one of the main outcomes of this strategy. Students now expect a fully functioning e-learning environment with content and resources available online 24 hours a day. A growing community of part-time and overseas students, lifelong learners and professionals, is enabled by flexible learning, meaning that its development will help to drive growth in the sector. A rich technology-enhanced learning culture will therefore also make UK colleges and universities more attractive in the domestic and global markets.

Support for technology-enhanced learning will include guidance on ways to provide new and innovative services, advice on designing a curriculum, a series of national programmes, and development of technical standards to support sharing between systems and institutions. Use of mobile technology, including smart phones, and online networks that support learning, are part of this new landscape. JISC will increase its research into the needs of learners, practitioners, researchers and future generations of researchers in respect of the online learning environment.

Research environment

A more dynamic and effective research environment is another important outcome expected from this strategy. The internet has fostered a more collaborative research culture across international borders and the ‘google generation’ is soon to graduate into the research community. The Research Excellence Framework currently in consultation and due to replace the Research Assessment Exercise in 2013, is also likely to change the research environment.

JISC will develop programmes and promote services that support the UK research culture, facilitating creative approaches and enhancing its quality. There will be a focus on best practice in managing research data, including developing technical standards to promote greater accessibility to research and sharing of findings between universities. JISC Collections will continue to invest in scholarly collections gaining feedback and advice on the specifics of what users want and need. Online resources increasingly improve the productivity of researchers. As yet unfamiliar resources of information, and ways of working born out of online connectivity, will be pursued and developed.

People

JISC intends to enhance the skills and capabilities of those people within education and research who are using or are responsible for ICT, from hands-on staff to strategic decision-makers. This will include helping students and teachers adopt more sophisticated online search techniques, and investigating how informal online networks may be used to facilitate learning, teaching and research.

It will also involve working more closely with managers at a local and national level to support large-scale changes to systems and processes. JISC Advance promotes excellence in project and portfolio management throughout the sector. It will continue to train project leaders in project management techniques, and intends to explore how and to what extent best practice is being applied in large-scale projects, programmes or system changes. As part of this activity, JISC will draw on and continue to build its partnerships with organisations across the sector, including the Leadership Foundation.

Management information systems

Enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of management information systems, is among JISC’s highest priorities for 2010–2012. Institutions need to control costs, with a view to improving the experience of students at UK universities and colleges, thereby enhancing the UK’s competitiveness.

JISC will investigate best practice in how to plan, implement and manage projects to upgrade or replace administrative and business systems, including how to ensure that any solutions adopted are sustainable in the long term. More flexible corporate systems that complement and support new ways of working are anticipated to provide a significant return on investment over time. They will enable institutions the flexibility to adapt to fluctuating market conditions, and improve the service on offer to part-time or remote students.

Shared services

JISC’s long-established responsibility for creating and supporting shared services will continue, particularly where it gives rise to immediate cost savings. The existing infrastructure, including JANET and related services, will continue to receive investment for development and upgrades, and JISC has undertaken to constantly review the effectiveness and relevancy of this activity.

In the case of university and college administrative systems, where there is an identified need for improvement, JISC will explore the option of shared and managed services in a bid to reduce costs and to spread expertise across the sector. JISC will also investigate the potential of activities to support national infrastructure.

Cloud computing

With the arrival of widespread cloud computing, JISC will be actively investigating the potential of this new way of working. Cloud computing will enable institutions and individuals to access information, resources and software online, with no need to store them locally or to purchase applications outright. Software as a Service, for example, offers the ability for institutions to use sophisticated software on a flexible basis, removing the high cost in time and money involved in buying and owning it. Cloud computing may also be of significant benefit to those looking for flexible and mobile access to resources.

Innovation

JISC provides strategic investment to support changes to systems or processes, ranging from small, short term projects usually designed to lift the skills base and capacity of the sector, to large projects usually to tackle generic infrastructure needs across the sector. JISC also supports large projects in anticipation of significant benefits over the long term. JISC intends to maintain its current strategy for investing in innovation during the next three years, in order that the benefits may be realised when the economy returns to growth.

JISC Advance is JISC’s new advice and guidance service designed to help institutions to implement findings from innovation programmes. It will also facilitate feedback to JISC from universities and colleges, including incorporating the Regional Support Centres, from 2010.

Market intelligence

Fostering a lively dialogue between JISC and its community is at the heart of the 2010–2012 Strategy. JISC will develop its market research activity in order to understand better the wants and needs of its partners, funders and the higher and further education sector generally. This will help refine investment decisions by pinpointing the exact type of support that is needed, and the best moment in time to provide it. Through this conversation JISC seeks to maintain its core values of being proactive, respected, knowledgeable, innovative, risk taking, investigative, explorative, focused and authoritative.

Communication

As part of this dialogue, JISC aims to communicate more about its work to those intended to benefit from it. JISC has produced and will continue to produce, for example, a range of case studies, software, toolkits and guidance documents to support the better use of digital technologies, and will now focus on communicating the resources and services it provides more clearly. A focus on embedding best practice in ICT within the sector is driving the push on communications, and JISC expects that it will facilitate greater take-up of its recommendations.

Impact

JISC will update the way it reviews and measures the success and impact of its activities, and how it communicates the results of these evaluations. It will measure the success and impact of projects and programmes, services, marketing, communications, initiatives and partnerships, using a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques as appropriate. Narrative case studies will comprise a part of this, combined with statistics where available. This activity is expected to enable JISC to articulate better the complex nature of the outcomes of its work.