R&D on behalf of our members
As a membership organisation, the purpose of our R&D is to develop new services for our members. So we understand the crucial role that our members should play in choosing which ideas we pursue and in steering the R&D projects we establish in order to develop them.
Since we began using co-design in 2013 we have been constantly refining the approach to ensure it works for our members. Recent feedback from the sector has led us to tweak our approach, incorporating a number of different elements in order to keep the sector better informed of our activities and to make our R&D work quicker and more responsive.
Elements of co-design
Horizons group
This group will meet twice a year to track emerging technology that is relevant to education and research. At each meeting the group will analyse how emerging technology can help address the strategic challenges the sector is facing and will discuss one of those challenges in more depth.
The group will also identify opportunities for R&D work or areas for further exploration. The group is made up of a diverse group of experts from HE, FE and relevant other sectors.
Following each meeting we will produce a ‘horizons’ report. This report will provide advice for people working in education and research on how to plan to adopt emerging technologies.
The first horizons group meeting took place on 12 December 2018 and focused on the issue of student mental health and wellbeing.
Co-design labs
Co-design labs are short innovation sprints designed to develop a set of ideas in response to the challenges identified by the horizons group. Each lab will produce a shortlist of potential ideas and then develop one of those ideas into a prototype.
Labs are expected to explore a wide range of ideas and prototypes could be anything from advice to demos of new products. We will run around four co-design labs per year and each lab will take place over a period of 2-3 months. Sector practitioners will be invited to join the labs and all lab work will be shared openly so a wide range of Jisc members can contribute to the lab without committing the time to join.
The ideas that emerge from the lab will be shared openly and promising ideas could be pursued by Jisc, individual institutions or another sector body.
Labs will be a good opportunity for practitioners to develop new skills in innovation and prototyping, develop ideas to benefit their own institutions, influence the work of Jisc and others and be accredited with a Jisc co-design digital badge.
Read more about the co-design labs and how to get involved.
Learnings webinars
Learnings webinars will be held every three months and are open to everyone. These hour-long webinars are a chance to hear about the latest developments in Jisc’s R&D work including demonstrations of the prototypes developed in the co-design labs.
We will share a written update on Jisc R&D project progress with everyone who joins the webinar and there will be time in every webinar for questions on any aspect of Jisc’s R&D work.
Upcoming webinars
- 12 February 2019 - find out more and register
- 21 May 2019 - details TBC
- 17 September 2019 - details TBC
- 17 December 2019 - details TBC