HE Information Landscape - Seize the Day

Facilitators: Adam Cooper

Many organisations in the public and private sector could benefit from getting a grip on their data assets. Too often, they are a headache and represent missed opportunities in spades. Change is difficult but we have reason to identify the current HEFCE supported partnership project "Redesigning the data and information landscape" as a catalyst for change.

The project to redesign the UK’s higher education (HE) data and information landscape aims to enhance the arrangements for the collection, sharing and dissemination of data and information about the HE system.

This project is essentially asking how (not whether) sector-level (i.e. supra-institutional) data management and information exchange can be made smarter and includes topics such as the development of a "sector-level data model, lexicon and thesaurus", a new version of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) and Unique Learner Number (ULN) implementation.

The primary remit is linked to regulatory reform but the project creates other opportunities for us. We should not only see it as being of benefit in easing the burden of regulatory data collections or streamlining business process interactions with external agencies (e.g. UCAS) but also as an opportunity to, for example:
 * reform our own data management
 * adopt some of the proposed harmonised information/data models for our own (HEI) business systems interoperability
 * engage with suppliers
 * do better business intelligence/analytics
 * build some Open Source Software components

Approximate Timetable: 13:00 - Welcome and introductions

13:15 - HE Information and Data Landscape Project Update and Q&A, Andy Youell, HESA, Project Director

13:45 - "Exploring Utopia and Dystopia in Sector-level Data Flows" Group work using the "future backwards" approach.

14:30 - coffee break

15:15 - Lightening-talk style contributions from participants (3 minute, 2 slides) Ideas for opportunities and practical things that could be done (autonomously, collaboratively, with support from JISC, by HEFCE, ...)

15:30 - "What can we do to get additional benefits inside our institutions?" Idea sort, group activity and feedback

16:30 - end of session

The session will be captured in a brief workshop report which we will publish shortly after the event.

To discuss the session, ask questions or offer a contribution, please contact [mailto:a.r.cooper@bolton.ac.uk Adam].