Data plays a vital role in institutional management and for underpinning public accountability in higher education. The academic community, research funders, sector stakeholders and government are also making progress in the field of open research data.
Sir Ian Diamond’s report on Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money highlights the sector’s commitment to sharing data, and considers how more value might be derived by opening data held within and outside the sector.
A ‘Creating value from open data’ project to explore the opportunities and challenges of open data in higher education is being taken forward by Universities UK in partnership with the National Union of Students, Jisc and the Open Data Institute.
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- About the efficiency in higher education agenda
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- UUK seminar series: Creating value from open data
Posts
The right tools for the job: harnessing the power of student voice through HearNow
In this blog Jo Clarkson, Market Research and Insight Manager at the University of Warwick, shares how the HearNow project increased students’ feedback while minimising survey fatigue. The project by gathering students’ opinions as ‘snap-shot’ sentiments through technology and Gamification raised the number of active users from 200 to 13,000 with an average of 50% response rate.- WHAT DOES GDPR MEAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
Rob Hunter is Managing Director and Founder of Hunterlodge Advertising. In this piece he draws our attention to the changing landscape of personal data management and the need for the HE sector as a whole to prepare for effective compliance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). - Is anybody out there?
Changes to key metrics that make up the TEF will mean that universities will become more reliant on good quality outcomes data. Brian Hipkin says more demanding requirements will mean less time chasing staff for up-to-date student data but will require universities to forge a new relationship with graduates. 
How clearing is changing
The A-level results are published next week with students entering what has been described as the most competitive admissions market yet. But Dan Benyon writes on Wonkhe that clearing is changing, starting earlier with universities adopting a much more targeted, data driven approach.- Welcome to the intelligent campus
As 'smart homes' become more and more sophisticated, universities are harnessing technology to improve the campus or classroom experience for students. Now institutions are planning on taking it to the next level, by using data from sensors, tracking and the internet, combined with information from other sources, as Jisc's James Clay describes in this blog. - The need to future proof data on degree valueWith data like TEF and LEO, the question of value is at their core and understood largely in terms of students’ expectations and outcomes, particularly those which relate to careers and salaries. But what if the career landscape changes in the future, Adam Wright asks on Wonkhe.
- The benefits of an efficient asset data workflowSimple changes to your data workflow can bring a range of benefits, according to the latest post on Jisc's equipment sharing blog. The University of Southampton's Adrian Cox writes that the mantra “enter it once use it many times” should be kept in mind when improving an institution's research data workflow.
- Have your say on easing the burden of data collectionA seemingly simple request for information can turn out to be a painful experience for providers if data is not well managed within an institution. A consultation has been launched to develop a code of practice for higher education data collectors, which HESA's Andy Youell argues on Wonkhe will influence an approach to the behaviour of data collectors and the assessment of burden.
- Why blockchain could be the future in knowledge procurement
More applications are emerging for blockchain - a formerly obscure technology that underpins the digital currency Bitcoin. Nick Petford, chair of the Procurement UK forum and vice chancellor of the University of Northampton, is excited about its potential for procurement. - Acronym news: farewell JACS, hello HECoS!
A new acronym for HE professionals to learn has arrived. The replacement for JACS is called HECoS - the HE Classification of Subjects. JACS is used by HESA and UCAS to classify subjects of study; the implementation of HECoS provides an opportunity for a far broader range of stakeholders to use a common subject coding system in the future. - Using students to help stop students dropping out
Who better to ask about why students drop out than students themselves? Jamie Rawsthorne was in his first year at the University of West of England when he met with vice chancellor Steve West to see how he could help prevent students leaving before the end of their courses. The result was the start of his company Unique Insights. Jamie explains why and how he took on the retention challenge. - We call it data – students call it life
Big data will back up the new breed of personal tutors in universities. But Brian Hipkin worries that relying on statistics without a meaningful human context will create a support system that will ultimately fail students. - Managing data management – can you help?
As part of Efficiency Exchange's mission to help institutions share expertise, Alison Wallis from Royal Holloway, University of London would like to hear your experiences of improving data management. - Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.
In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient. - Moving forward with open data: HESA’s new strategy
HESA is pledging to publish as much of its data as possible as open data by 2021. - Show me the numbers – making data analytics work for you
Data analytics are becoming more accessible for higher education institutions. Giles Carden, an advisor and co-designer at HESPA, offers some tips about how to make the best use of them. - Giving students power over their learning data
Universities are investing time and money in creating learning analytics systems, but Ed Foster of Nottingham Trent Universities says these systems are only as good to the support given to staff and students who use them. - North’s first shared data centre for education and research secured by JiscA shared data centre for the north of England has been secured by Jisc to aid collaboration and the sharing of large data sets. Among the first tenants are Liverpool University, Sheffield Hallam University and the universities of Sheffield and Leeds.
- Raising the bar through collaboration
The Jisc-HESA Heidi lab project has brought professionals from a range of universities together to create dashboards for the sector’s new Heidi Plus business intelligence service. Anne Buckle, who took a leading role in one project team, highlights some of the benefits of this model of collaboration. - What happens when the dial turns red?
When the data shows that a student is struggling, how should universities respond? Brian Hipkin issues a plea to academics and their professional services colleagues to work together more to understand the student lifestyle from the student's perspective. - Partnership expands for Jisc’s open research data shared serviceJisc's research data shared service pilot now involves 17 partners after four more institutions joined in with the project. A blog by Jisc's Rachel Bruce says the service aims to serve a variety of needs, including providing repositories for deposit and access to research data and encouraging data reuse in the long term.
- Universities join forces to design learning analytics architecture for the sectorUniversities wishing to raise achievement of all students were urged to consider adopting learning analytics in the Higher Education Commission's recent report ‘From Bricks to Clicks’. In this blogpost, Phil Richards says the sector is now also recognising learning analytics as a priority area and Jisc is working with universities deliver a national open architecture for this work.
- Student surveys are a waste of everyone’s time
"Students have to answer 25 questionnaires a year and they are sick of it", an academic complains. In a post for the Guardian's Academics Anonymous blog, the unnamed physiology lecturer asks why universities are so obsessed with pointless data. - HESA launches bid to remove barriers to the reuse of its datasets
A five year plan to open up higher education data was unveiled on Thursday by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Rosie Niven reports on the agency’s key recommendations. - The rise of the new academic advisor
Could the advent of the TEF see the emergence of a new breed of data-empowered academic advisors? Student experience consultant Brian Hipkin says the growth in student-generated ‘teaching excellence’ metrics could herald the introduction of this role. - Full house for data experts at the University of Southampton
Universities around the world are providing their students with open data to enable students to extend the digital ecosystem with their own software. In the UK, the most well known is the University of Southampton and this write-up of a visit from UCL's TechSoc nicely describes project leaders' bingo-inspired solution to overcome resistance to opening up data - Boosting wider participation by using business intelligence tools
The University of East London has been using data analysis to study widening participation trends and foster collaboration with boroughs in east London. Gary Tindell explains how UEL is applying these techniques at a national level as part of the Heidi Lab project sponsored by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and Jisc - Data footprints: three steps along the path to data innovation
A recent report by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) highlights how Jisc, HESA and Universities UK could advance data innovation through collaborative activities. The good news is they are already making strides in this area, says Ian Powling of Universities UK. - Open data in HE intro guide UUK
This introductory guide is intended for professionals working in universities who wish to gain a better understanding of the issues associated with using open data within their institutions. The guide is based on training workshops run by the Open Data Institute for the ‘Creating value from open data’ project. - Open Data as Open Educational Resources
This collection of case studies put together by Open Education and Universities UK aims to demonstrate the enormous potential for openly-licensed and accessible datasets to be used as Open Educational Resources. The book can be viewed free of charge online. - Jisc selects pilots for new shared service
Jisc has selected 13 institutions to pilot its research data management shared service and also announced an accompanying network to engage with interested institutions who are not part of the pilot. - From Bricks to Clicks – the potential of data and analytics in higher education
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Big data and analytics are being used by businesses to have more understanding of their customers and products in order to spot opportunities and to become more efficient and more innovative. This report recommends that Universities UK, Jisc and HESA work together to develop a strategy for excellence and innovation in data management and analytics. - Not engaging with open data is ‘a loser’s game’
Following Universities UK’s (UUK) recent open data mashup day in partnership with Jisc and the Open Data Institute, Ian Morton of UUK reflects on how smarter use of data by universities could play a significant part in answering the objectives of the government’s green paper on higher education – and also much more. - Open Data Mashup Challenge – a participant’s view
A group of graduate interns and apprentices from Student Services in the at Sheffield Hallam University’s (SHU) Faculty of Development and Society were among the participants in November’s Open Data Mashup Challenge. Lucy Shanks explains how the challenge will benefit their work to improve the student journey. - Meet Heidi Plus, HESA’s new business intelligence service
A new business intelligence service has been launched by Jisc and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to support university staff in making the most of the data available to them. HESA's Jonathan Waller explains how it will benefit the sector. - Lancaster University graduate wins the open data mashup challengeA graduate trainee from Lancaster University has been named the winner of a competition organised by Universities UK, in partnership with the Open Data Institute and Jisc, to design an app that uses open data to help students at key points in their learning journey. His prize is expert support worth £5,000 from Jisc to develop his idea into a prototype.
- Open data mashup day – speakers and agenda
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. - Open data mashup challenge: enhancing the student journeyUniversities UK and Jisc recently ran a challenge which invited developers to submit ideas to feed into the open data mashup challenge. Ian Powling rounds up the six finalists ahead of their final pitch on Tuesday.
- The everyday benefits of open data for students
On Tuesday, universities and developers will be brought together for an open data mashup day, hosted by Universities UK, working in partnership with the Open Data Institute and Jisc. The University of Southampton’s Chris Gutteridge, who opens the event, sets out his vision for a future where organisations will routinely publish their open data. - How open data can benefit universities
On Tuesday, Universities UK will be hosting an open data mashup, which will focus on enhancing the student journey. As the event approaches, Efficiency Exchange is focusing on the potential of open data to benefit universities in delivering their mission. - Open data mashup challengeDo you have a brilliant idea for an app that uses open data sets to support university students through their learning journey? Enter the open data mashup challenge, organised by University UK, Jisc and the Open Data Institute, for the chance to participate in an immersive day exploring the value of working with open data with development support of up to £5,000 to be won.
- Timeline revealed for Heidi Plus data analytics service
Key dates have been revealed for the roll out of the Heidi Plus data analytics service, part of the HESA and Jisc business intelligence project. A series of screen shots have also been released for the service which will be phased in from November to replace the original Heidi system. - Data-driven approaches to teaching excellenceJisc is developing a service allowing universities that don’t routinely collect and analyse learning data to begin to do so. Jisc's Phil Richards writes in Universities Business how learning analytics already offer a practical way to demonstrate student engagement and could bring more benefits in the future.
- Data capability toolkit
This toolkit outlines a process to guide higher education data collectors and providers through an assessment of data management maturity and the development of an improvement plan to achieve the benefits of operating at a higher maturity level and mitigate the risks of doing nothing. - The UK Data Service: best practice in efficiency, effectiveness and value for money
UK Data Service director Matthew Woollard discusses how the provision of a single infrastructure for data resources can result in efficiency savings for research institutions and data owners alike. - Europe-wide MOOC on reducing data centres’ energy consumption
A consortium of institutions from around Europe including Leeds Beckett University and University College Dublin have launched an online course highlighting ways of reducing the costly levels of energy consumption by data centres. - Shared services – Jisc shared data centre – case study – June 2015Jisc has joined forces with Infinity SDC and six anchor tenants to provide a shared data centre for research and education. Potential benefits significant cost savings through aggregating requirements across tenants.
- 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 will be launched by Jisc and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) later this year to support university staff in making the most of the data available to them. - New toolkit aims to reduce data duplicationThe Higher Education Data & Information Improvement Programme (HEDIIP) has published a data capability toolkit, which aims to help higher education professionals improve the foundational aspects of data management and governance. The toolkit allows institutions to develop an improvement plan with anticipated benefits including the reduction of data duplication.
- An efficient solution to researchers’ identity crisis
Next week’s Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) annual conference will include a session on how universities are implementing the ORCID researcher identifier. Ahead of the event, Jisc’s Verena Weigert explains how ORCID is enabling more effective research management. - Road map published for the higher education information landscape
The New Landscape project seeks to create a design for the information landscape, something that has never previously existed in higher education. Rosie Niven rounds up the main points set out in the publication of a report setting out the roadmap for data in higher education. - Higher education data project to focus on the student journeyOpen data's role in helping institutions and students understand more about the journey through higher education will be the main focus of a project to demonstrate the value of open data to universities, Universities UK policy researcher William Hammonds has revealed in a blogpost.
- HEFCE highlights examples of accessible financial information
HEFCE has identified good practice case studies of institutions presenting their financial information in a way that is accessible to students. A report containing the case studies shows the different approaches universities have adopted. - Efficient sharing of university data is closer than you think
Open data is enabling higher education institutions to discover and make the most of opportunities to collaborate, share equipment and expertise. Adrian Cox, project manager at equipment.data, writes about how how this kind of collaboration is helping to achieve efficiencies. - Delivering better value through open dataBoth public sector buyers and suppliers can experience long-term benefits from making their procurement data more open, Spendnetwork’s Ian Makgill suggests.
- Data-driven efficiency: what can higher education learn from consumer businesses?
Open data offers a golden opportunity for institutions to understand their customers and market. Harvey Lewis of Deloitte explains how businesses are using this data to make better decisions. - Supporting an open future at Jisc
Digital technology is making new approaches to open data possible in both research and professional services. Jisc’s Catherine Grout and David Kernohan describe the work taking place to support an open future. - 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. - Project launched to unlock open data potential in higher educationThe ODI and Universities UK have launched a project involving a group of top UK universities, the National Union of Students and Jisc to explore the opportunities open data presents the higher education sector in the UK. The launch of Creating Value from Open Data is followed by an event on 18 November at Universities UK looking at other organisations' strategies for open data.
- Calls for more data sharing in policy making and HE
With open data to form a key strand in the second phase of efficiency work in higher education led by Sir Ian Diamond, we feature a contribution to the discussion by the Royal Statistical society that argues for the importance of data in policy and academia. - Three posts about open data and efficiencyWith open data the focus of an event organised by Universities UK on 18 November, we look back at Efficiency Exchange's previous coverage of this area. Here are three posts focusing on the use of open data in Higher Education.
- Jisc secures networks to enable safe sharing of medical research data
Jisc is enabling researchers across the UK to safely and securely share health data for their collaborative research projects. The UK’s research and education network Janet, provided by Jisc, is providing an efficient solution that secures the networks linking participating institutions and eliminates the need for them to develop and manage their own authentication systems. - UK research secures new national data centreA new Jisc shared data centre housing the data of six leading UK scientific and academic organisations will enable the sharing of high volumes of data. The facility represents a significant example of asset sharing in the sector with the potential to deliver cost savings and reduce the procurement needs of institutions.
- Putting open data into practice
Video of presentation given by Harvey Lewis, Director of Insight and Analytics at Deloitte LLP, on 15 July 2014 as part of UUK's 'Creating value from open data' seminar series. More on open data in higher education. - Translating the potential of open data into practice"Data is the next oil. Data is the new capital of the 21st century. Data will spur innovation and drive growth." We’ve all heard statements like these over the last few years. And in many ways they’re true. As the volume and richness of data rapidly increases, so does the demand for insight into strategies that can be implemented to harness its full value, says Harvey Lewis of Deloitte LLP. Harvey talks about translating the potential of open data into practice at 5pm Tuesday 15th July at Woburn House, Tavistock Square. Includes video and presentation.
- Companies are struggling to find the data skills they need says new report from NestaNew 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.
- ‘Creating value from open data’ programme launches todayOpen 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.
- 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.
- Business intelligence and benchmarking can help universities make better decisions
We heard from Chris Hale of Universities UK about how universities use benchmarking to understand their management data. As a follow-up, the Efficiency Exchange asks Dr Giles Carden, Director of Strategic Planning & Analytics at the University of Warwick, for his views. - Digital Preservation and Data Curation Requirements and SolutionsSolutions and practical help for tackling everyday digital preservation issues.
- 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 the UK Higher Education sector. While institutions variously submitting data to such a datastore is the goal, it’s also likely that proactive centralised curating will be vital, says Tony Hirst. And […]
