Efficiency Exchange
Companies are struggling to find the data skills they need says new report from...
New report from Nesta looks at the data skills that leading companies look for and the implications for policy and management. Policymakers, educators and industry need to address data skills shortages by upskilling workers, improving the supply of data talent from education, and changing perceptions of data work as boring.
‘Strategic sourcing in UK HEIs: assessing the options’: lunch-time seminar 2 July 2014
Dr Wendy Phillips and Dr Dharm Kapletia of the Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, will present the findings of a study investigating the sourcing strategies and practices of UK Higher Education Intuitions (HEIs), funded by the Innovation and Transformation Fund.
When: Wednesday, 2nd July, 2014
Time: 12:30 - 13:30pm
Location: Schofield Buidling A.2.03, Loughborough University
A buffet lunch will be provided.
‘Creating value from open data’ programme launches today
Open data can help increase universities' efficiency, says Paul Clark, launching UUK's 'Creating value from open data' joint programme with the Open Data Institute. UUK is already leading a programme of work which supports efficiency and modernisation in the university sector, and open data can play a key role in this. Opening data on, for example, procurement costs, energy costs and usage, or space utilisation will allow institutions to benchmark one another and drive down costs. There may also be opportunities through transferring good practice from one part of the sector to another.
Departmental ICT Initiative of the Year 2014 winner announced
Last night Loughborough University were announced as the winners of the Departmental ICT Initiative of the Year, sponsored by Jisc, at the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2014.
UUK seminar: What is open data and why should we be interested?
With Gavin Starks, Chief Executive, Open Data Institute. 17:00 – 18:30 on Tuesday 24 June 2014 at Woburn House.
The UUK seminar series ‘Creating value from open data’ kicks off with Gavin Starks of the Open Data Institute. Gavin will be talking about why open data is so important, how the agenda is developing and what higher education should take on board. The Open Data institute is an independent, non-profit organisation working to catalyse open data innovation established by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt and supported by funding of £10 million over five years from the UK Government.
A Vice-Chancellor’s view – what should universities be ready for?
"Success will be inextricably linked to who can run a lean and efficient operation", says Sir David Bell KCB, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading, who considers some of the significant trends affecting the higher education sector in his article for the Spring 2014 edition of HE Matters from PwC.
HEPA helps universities improve their procurement expertise
Caroline Blackman-Edney, Chair of the BUFDG Procurement Professionals Group, tells University Business magazine that, “As procurement raises its profile within an institution, more departments within it will rely on procurement expertise. Building the capacity to offer these services should be key to a university’s wider risk management strategy. HEPA provides tools which enable personnel to achieve this.”
Monitoring efficiency and effectiveness in Swedish higher education
How does the Swedish approach to monitoring efficiency and effectiveness in higher education differ from the UK? Andrea Amft, Max Kesselberg and Anders Viberg of the Swedish Higher Education Authority reflect on their visit to Universities UK and HESA.
Debunked: five misconceptions about shared service centres
In the last of three posts, Ian Herbert and Andrew Rothwell of Loughborough University identify five common misconceptions about shared service centres (SSCs), gleaned from 10 years of research in the UK and across the world.
Shared services in higher education: more than just about ‘plug-and-play’ cost savings
In the second of three posts, Ian Herbert and Andrew Rothwell of Loughborough University offer five more observations gleaned from 10 years of research into shared service centres in the UK and across the world. You can learn more about this area in a shared services forum they are running at the University of Northampton on 14 May.
