Efficiency Exchange
Procurement as a strategic asset in higher education – call for evidence
We know that procurement makes a key contribution to the savings agenda in higher education, yet the strategic value of procurement within institutions is...
Universities – the ‘intelligent customers’ of the future
Higher education institutions should develop their own approach to becoming ‘intelligent customers’ of suppliers, which will involve investment in new skills, changes in culture...
Streamlining TRAC processes to improve efficiency
A review of TRAC (the activity-costing method used by UK universities and colleges) will make it easier and more efficient for higher education institutions...
University labs: waste not, want not
With science funding in short supply, work on making your existing facilities as efficient as possible, says Peter James of S-Lab.
Money for university...
Green Gown Awards 2013 – open for entries
EAUC has announced the launch of the Green Gown Awards 2013. The awards offer UK universities and colleges the chance to shine and to shout about their sustainability achievements. The deadline for Stage 1 applications is Wednesday 12 June.
Efficiency update April 2013
Here's a quick roundup of efficiency related comment on the blogosphere in April.
Vice chancellor Nick Petford and Andy Davies, director of LUPC, suggest that...
ITF – update on funded projects
The nine projects funded under the joint HEFCE/Leadership Foundation Innovation and Transformation Fund (ITF) – including the Efficiency Exchange – are making good progress...
Smarter procurement is needed for sustainability
Improved procurement could be the secret to balancing the sector’s books in tough times, Nick Petford and Andy Davies suggest. With income falling for the first time and predictions of mounting pressure on surpluses, smarter procurement could be the key to a more sustainable form of higher education in England.
Read the full post on THE (subscription required)
Consorting with the consortia – the 30% target
You might think there is nothing new about collaborative procurement in higher education. After all, there are six main procurement consortia based in England that have been working with institutions for some years. They help with collaborative procurement among institutions and between HE and other sectors.
What is new is that there’s a target to hit, as set by the Diamond Report on Efficiency and Modernisation. By 2016, it is expected that 30% of non-pay spend should be through effective collaborative arrangements.
That’s a tough target, and it raises a number of questions.
data.ac.uk – next steps…
One of the problems with doing "data stuff" is finding the data. The data.ac.uk service seeks to simplify the discovery of data published across...
