Deeper collaboration "key to securing future of higher education"
Building on its expertise as a provider of critical infrastructure, shared efficiencies and best practice, Jisc has commissioned a new report, Collaboration for a Sustainable Future, to examine the sector’s many interconnected challenges and opportunities in more detail and identify ways to address them.
UK higher education (HE) currently faces challenges on an unprecedented scale, with as many as 40% of institutions facing budget deficits. For many, their long-term financial sustainability is under threat, and institutions are already investigating new ways of working to secure stability for the sector.
The report continues Jisc’s ongoing work to support sustainable digital research infrastructure, including the recent report on mapping federated digital research infrastructure produced on behalf of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) digital research infrastructure committee (DRIC).
The work to advance trusted, secure and open research by identifying opportunities to promote shared services and collaboration in, for example, research management systems, secure and trusted research environments and procurement and licensing of research software, and the recommendations from Universities UK (UUK) blueprint for change underpins the Collaboration for a Sustainable Future report.
SUBSCRIBE to the Research Information Newsline here!
Liam Earney, managing director for higher education and research at Jisc said: “The conversation around data, digital or technological collaboration in HE is not new. In fact, in pockets it already exists. As universities confront uncertainties around their future, this report serves as a mechanism to catalyse ongoing discussions in the sector, including those highlighted in the recent UUK blueprint for change, and spur institutions and sector bodies to take action.
“One of the key themes that emerged throughout this report is that every institution, to a greater or lesser degree, faces the same challenges, wants the same outcomes for their students and staff, uses the same digital systems and technologies and regularly deals with the same providers. As a result, many of those we interviewed asked: why aren’t universities collaborating everywhere a common minimum standard is the key requirement?
“Change can be hard, but by aligning with willing institutions, and with the support of sector partners such as Jisc, there is growing momentum to act on the issues highlighted in this report to create a more sustainable future for UK HE.”
Co-produced with KPMG in the UK, the report explores how deeper collaboration in digital, data and technology can be achieved, leading to enhanced efficiencies and improved sector-wide outcomes across UK HE.
One of the key findings challenges the perception that greater inter-institutional collaboration around systems, data and skills would undermine the uniqueness of individual HE organisations. In fact, through engagement with university leaders and stakeholders both in the UK and overseas, the report identifies several common activities that could benefit from increased collaboration, allowing institutions to share resources effectively.
The five key areas found to offer the greatest opportunities for collaboration are: greater central coordination around standards and data models, central provision of skills development in the digital and data spaces, shared approaches to the procurement, implementation and management of systems, sharing of whole systems and co-building technology to support HE. The report explores not only opportunities for the sector to collaborate, but also, the conditions needed to support successful outcomes.
All contributors to this report agree that greater collaboration to support the sustainability of the sector is a key area of opportunity. Trust and governance will play a pivotal part in driving collaboration forward as well as a shift towards group mindsets and behaviours for institutions.
Recommended actions include:
- Discuss and debate the contents of this report and decide how the findings resonate within your institution
- Agree an institutional position, and make it known to the wider sector
- Engage with sector partners to convene ‘coalitions of the willing’ from across UK HE
- Act now while institutions still have the resources, capacity and autonomy to shape the solution(s)
Vivienne Stern MBE, chief executive of Universities UK said: "Digital solutions, data and technology represent a huge opportunity for the higher education sector to work collaboratively to become more efficient. Our universities are global leaders in this space, and we can use these capabilities to make the sector more agile and fit for the future.
“In the blueprint for change, Universities UK made a commitment to bring our members together to share learning and good practice in efficiency and income generation. Jisc’s report paves the way for a more joined-up approach to increasing efficiency across the whole sector."
