Knowledge creation and innovation
Knowledge creation and innovation is a core practice area of digital transformation focussing on digital aspects of horizon scanning, research and innovation.
One of the core knowledge practice areas in the framework for digital transformation in higher education.
Analysing emerging trends and developments across all areas of the organisation’s business to inform policy and development. Enhancing knowledge creation and innovation through research and collaborative activities. Considering the wider impact on local, regional, national or international communities.
Knowledge creation and innovation is broken down into four areas of activity:
Digital vision and horizon scanning
Looking ahead to anticipate and prepare for the impact of current and future digital trends on the sector and on organisational priorities and activities. Enabling senior leaders to gather foresight to inform strategic planning and decision making.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Benchmarking | Digital creativity | Digital leadership | Digital vision | Foresight | Futures thinking | Horizon scanning | International activities | Industry trends | Strategic planning | Sector trends
Examples of potential activities
- Develop a series of visioning workshops for senior leaders
- Encourage leaders and governors to be aware of digital transformations in industry, research and development, education and business sectors, and consider how to incorporate appropriate new practices and approaches into the organisation (e.g. curriculum development, knowledge practices)
- Create a futures-thinking or foresight framework for the organisation that supports policy decision making
How Jisc can support your organisation
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Groups
Reports
Looking ahead to anticipate and prepare for the impact of current and future digital trends on the sector and on organisational priorities and activities. Enabling senior leaders to gather foresight to inform strategic planning and decision making.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Benchmarking | Digital creativity | Digital leadership | Digital vision | Foresight | Futures thinking | Horizon scanning | International activities | Industry trends | Strategic planning | Sector trends
Examples of potential activities
- Develop a series of visioning workshops for senior leaders
- Encourage leaders and governors to be aware of digital transformations in industry, research and development, education and business sectors, and consider how to incorporate appropriate new practices and approaches into the organisation (e.g. curriculum development, knowledge practices)
- Create a futures-thinking or foresight framework for the organisation that supports policy decision making
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Groups
Reports
Research
Providing a robust infrastructure to support research. Includes strategic approaches, appropriate investment in digital systems, environments, processes and technologies, and attracting, enabling, developing and supporting researchers.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity mode. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | Digital strategy | Ethics | International activities | Library and learning resources | Open research | Research collaboration | Research management and support | Research skills development and training | Research support
Examples of potential activities
- Enable interdisciplinary approaches to research through digitally -connected communities
- Provide access to appropriate scale and type of research infrastructure
- Identify routes to access appropriate technologies (e.g. high-performance computing) within or outside the organisation to support high complexity/high capacity research
- Provide adequate, well-managed research data storage
- Provide secure access to open research data management infrastructure and policies to support clear research data lifecycle provision, including preservation and disposal
- Ensure that effective content management systems are developed, used and maintained to support storage, retrieval and access to research and enterprise outputs, including internal and external digital repositories
- Identify routes to managing physical research assets and equipment digitally to support a sustainable research estate
- Identify routes for researchers to access research software and data-engineering services where appropriate
- Offer research software engineering services to researchers to develop and improve code for specific research projects
- Reduce bureaucracy and administrative burdens on researchers by streamlining and simplifying the research management process
- Ensure that effective and interoperable research management processes, systems and technology are available and well managed
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Groups
Reports
- Optimising the UK’s university research infrastructure assets: perspectives and opportunities
- Publishing in transformative journals to make your research openly available
- Researcher digital experience insights survey 2021/22: UK higher education (HE) survey findings (published February 2023) (docx)
Guides
Providing a robust infrastructure to support research. Includes strategic approaches, appropriate investment in digital systems, environments, processes and technologies, and attracting, enabling, developing and supporting researchers.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity mode. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | Digital strategy | Ethics | International activities | Library and learning resources | Open research | Research collaboration | Research management and support | Research skills development and training | Research support
Examples of potential activities
- Enable interdisciplinary approaches to research through digitally -connected communities
- Provide access to appropriate scale and type of research infrastructure
- Identify routes to access appropriate technologies (e.g. high-performance computing) within or outside the organisation to support high complexity/high capacity research
- Provide adequate, well-managed research data storage
- Provide secure access to open research data management infrastructure and policies to support clear research data lifecycle provision, including preservation and disposal
- Ensure that effective content management systems are developed, used and maintained to support storage, retrieval and access to research and enterprise outputs, including internal and external digital repositories
- Identify routes to managing physical research assets and equipment digitally to support a sustainable research estate
- Identify routes for researchers to access research software and data-engineering services where appropriate
- Offer research software engineering services to researchers to develop and improve code for specific research projects
- Reduce bureaucracy and administrative burdens on researchers by streamlining and simplifying the research management process
- Ensure that effective and interoperable research management processes, systems and technology are available and well managed
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Groups
Reports
- Optimising the UK’s university research infrastructure assets: perspectives and opportunities
- Publishing in transformative journals to make your research openly available
- Researcher digital experience insights survey 2021/22: UK higher education (HE) survey findings (published February 2023) (docx)
Guides
Innovation
Supporting the development of new ideas and solutions by encouraging creativity, enterprise and supporting digital leadership. Aligning appropriate innovation with strategic aspirations, existing practice, legacy systems and processes.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Community collaboration | Digital creativity | Digital leadership | Digital strategy
Examples of potential activities
- Enable recognition, recruitment, development and retention of creative digital practitioners in professional roles
- Encourage and support staff to take calculated risks and experiment with technologies
- Develop a ring-fenced innovation budget to support initial development of ideas
- Provide opportunities for students to be involved as partners in research-informed digital innovation
- Create new events, awards, initiatives and funding streams to support digital creativity
- Support centres of excellence in digital fields and leverage their expertise within the organisation
- Enable an enterprise culture and support initiatives that contribute to the wider community; build entrepreneurship skills in students
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Groups
Supporting the development of new ideas and solutions by encouraging creativity, enterprise and supporting digital leadership. Aligning appropriate innovation with strategic aspirations, existing practice, legacy systems and processes.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Community collaboration | Digital creativity | Digital leadership | Digital strategy
Examples of potential activities
- Enable recognition, recruitment, development and retention of creative digital practitioners in professional roles
- Encourage and support staff to take calculated risks and experiment with technologies
- Develop a ring-fenced innovation budget to support initial development of ideas
- Provide opportunities for students to be involved as partners in research-informed digital innovation
- Create new events, awards, initiatives and funding streams to support digital creativity
- Support centres of excellence in digital fields and leverage their expertise within the organisation
- Enable an enterprise culture and support initiatives that contribute to the wider community; build entrepreneurship skills in students
How Jisc can support your organisation
Services
Groups
Wider impact
Ensuring research and innovation projects are analysed for their impact, and appropriately disseminated to different audiences.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | International activities | Local community | Local/regional/national/ impact | Marketing and communications
Examples of potential activities
- Ensure staff and students have the appropriate technologies, support and training to produce digital content for different audiences
- Maintain efficient marketing communications channels to ensure that organisational outputs and key messages are effectively managed, stored, branded, and disseminated
Ensuring research and innovation projects are analysed for their impact, and appropriately disseminated to different audiences.
Activities/principles/values
These keywords identify cross-cutting concepts used in both the framework and the maturity model. They occur across the different elements:
Building digital communities | International activities | Local community | Local/regional/national/ impact | Marketing and communications
Examples of potential activities
- Ensure staff and students have the appropriate technologies, support and training to produce digital content for different audiences
- Maintain efficient marketing communications channels to ensure that organisational outputs and key messages are effectively managed, stored, branded, and disseminated
Taking this area forward in your own organisation
Assess your digital maturity for knowledge creation and innovation
Download the maturity model for knowledge creation and innovation (pdf)
Download the maturity model for knowledge creation and innovation (docx)
Develop a roadmap and action plans
Download the maturity model action plan for knowledge creation and innovation (docx)
Contact your relationship manager
All Jisc member organisations have a dedicated relationship manager. Yours can help you access our full range of products, services and support.
Inspiration – member stories and case studies
- Queens University Belfast QUB: Jisc digital transformation toolkit focuses on future AI practice (pdf) – co-creation of a new AI strategy
- Simmersive Staffordshire: bringing together people, place and pedagogy for practising clinical skills
- Cardiff University’s multi-disciplinary approach to teaching in clinical disciplines with immersive technology
- Digital archives power future research
- Powering discoveries that benefit humankind
Next section: Knowledge development
View the knowledge development element of the framework focusing on how digital affects learning, teaching, work practices and the wider staff and student experience.
This toolkit is made available under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA).