Sarah Porter, Head of Innovation Group, JISC introduced the session on JISC future priorities. The aim of the session is to ask what you think on
- strategic issues (policy and governance)
- technical issues
- practice and people issues
The room then split into four groups to look at the issues in more detail.
Group 1:
- e-book market – given publishers reluctant to move in this market
- how JISC can help institutions embed e-learning
- impact of changing demographics (students)
- JISC’s own funding models – are there more imaginative ones? eg centres of expertise
- geo-enabled environment – when capturing and digitising content should capture geo data
- joining up with national data sharing initiatives (interoperability) and communities
- data repositories – are they the right way to go, and how do you make them more compelling?
- data curation – who will deliver training? Awareness of digital content management
- digital literacy – needs to happen at school age
- academics as providers – emphasis on the user experience – should academics be using each other’s resources
- recruiting project staff for JISC funded projects – pool of cvs?
Group 2:
Strategic
- infrastructure, supporting innovation and change
- balance between trying to deliver an IT service that works and innovation
- opening up the availability of applications
- understanding the institutional barriers to change and innovation
- need to understand and develop shared services, models – how do new applications (eg Google) fit? Single points of entry to these things?
- inclusivity – equal access, tying into wider ‘digital divide’ agenda
Technology
- encouraging a variety of solutions with ease of access
People
- freedom of choice of institutions
- the ability of people to be effective in their own jobs
- the balance between delivering service and supporting innovation activity
- sustainability
Group 3:
- staff and their changing roles – providing advice
- embedding projects – they stop, what happens next? embedding concepts across the sector
- providing better access/opportunities – open up a debate on whether mobile devices should be mandatory for all students?
- standards – setting a minimum standard for access and the sorts of things a university should be providing eg Web 2.0.
- assessment – e-portfolio
- sharing good practice – how do we do this as the sector becomes more competitive?
- sustainability
- open source and open standards
Group 4:
Strategic
- break down barriers between e-research and e-admin
- what JISC might do to help engage senior management in institutions
Technical
- better project resumes
- how do we develop a sense of technical authority? what other models exist?
- make e-framework more accessible
- address timegap between implementation of technology and what happens when it’s used – bridging measures
- greater coordination across standards bodies
People
- IPR and copyright – extension to related and linked resources/records
- derived information and data
- expert registry – how a project could locate expertise?
- ensure the place of technology in the overall practice/development – scaleability of practice
Sarah concluded by saying that the discussion had been fascinating, and that she hoped it would continue indefinitely via the blog. The discussions would inform future planning – and also would be reflected in her closing session tomorrow.