Enhancing the student journey will be the focus of today’s open data mashup hosted by Universities UK. Find out more about the participants in today’s event and how the open data agenda relates to higher education.
Today’s agenda is packed with opportunities for learning and creativity for universities and developers. Six university based teams will be contributing their ideas to a mashup session, supported by data gurus from the sector and the digital industries.
You can follow the event on Twitter; the hashtag is: #opendatahe. We also have a Twitter list of speakers and experts attending the event who you could follow.
The event will be chaired by Briony Phillips, programme manager at the Open Data Institute, who has previously blogged about overcoming the challenges of innovating with open data.
Here’s a round-up of the speakers and open data experts who will be participating today.
- Sir Nigel Shadbolt co-founded and chairs the Open Data Institute and also advises the UK government on transforming public access to information, including the data.gov.uk website.
- Christopher Gutteridge of the University of Southampton has been an active member of the “open” community for nearly 20 years and set up the award winning data.southampton.ac.uk. Read his post for Efficiency Exchange.
- Tony Hirst is a lecturer in the department of Communication and Systems at the Open University and is a regular blogger on open data. You can read his blog here.
- Jonathan Waller is the director of information and analysis at the Higher Education Statistics Agency and has been heavily involved with the development of the Heidi information management service and its successor Heidi Plus.
- Dave Tarrant of the Open Data Institute has more than 10 years of experience with the open agenda including a PhD in measuring the impact of open science. Read his top tips on reusing open data
- Leigh Dodds, also of the Open Data Institute, has 17 years of experience working in technology focused roles and loves to explore innovative ways of using open data. Read his post on the transition to a more open society
- Professor Sir Ian Diamond is the principal and vice chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and led Universities UK’s review of efficiency in higher education, which identified the need for the sector to make greater use of data.
- Dr Paul Feldman took up the position of chief executive at Jisc earlier this year and recently gave evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee as part of the Big Data Dilemma inquiry, which looked at the opportunities and risks of big data.
More on open data from the Efficiency Exchange
Over the past year Efficiency Exchange has published several articles showing how open data can be valuable to universities. Here is a selection of content that highlights some of the potential uses for open data within universities.
Open data opportunities in higher education
Sharing data openly offers huge benefits for higher education and institutions must make the most of it, says Ian Powling, digital programmes lead at Universities UK.
Data-driven efficiency: what can higher education learn from consumer businesses?
Consumer businesses are bringing together internal data sets to build a single view of their customers. Harvey Lewis of Deloitte says that open data offers similar opportunities for higher education institutions to focus on their particular markets and improve efficiency and effectiveness.
New business intelligence service to widen access to data insights
Universities need insights about the wider environment in which they operate to help them make better informed decisions about their products and services. A new business intelligence service by Jisc and the Higher Education Statistics Agency harnesses data to support institutions’ decision making.
The Open Data Mashup is organised by Universities UK* in partnership with the Open Data Institute and Jisc.
To find out more about open data in higher education, contact Ian Powling – ian.powling@universitiesuk.ac.uk
*Universities UK is also hosting a launch of the book ‘Open Data as Open Educational Resources’. Sign up here.
