The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced its findings and recommendations for the future of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The independent review chaired by Professor Sir Alan Wilson and carried out over a four month period concludes that, 'JISC is an invaluable national resource which has evolved in response to increasing demands over 20 years'. It recommends that due to the breadth and complexity of JISC's activity, its structure, processes, projects, programmes and governance need to be simplified and reshaped. This would ensure that it continues to deliver world-class leadership in the innovative use of technology for education and research, for which it is renowned.
The review gives areas and recommendations for JISC to consider how it rises to this challenge, all of which will need thorough investigation and consultation before deciding which will be implemented. These include focussing activities to achieve a large impact through activities clearly linked to the sectors' priorities. The review also recommends that services and projects be rationalised with a view to significantly reducing their number; that JISC become a separate legal entity funded through a combination of grants and subscriptions or user charges; and that structure and processes be changed, with the Board becoming smaller, being differently composed and becoming more strategic. There should be discussions between JISC, the funders, sector representatives and other bodies to determine the overall funding strategy for ICT in higher and further education, it has been pointed out. Additionally, the JISC should focus on delivering 'routes to best practice', wherever such practice resides; focus its research and development work on horizon-scanning and thought leadership; focus on understanding current and possible future trends in ICT and how they impact on the sectors; and review its relationship with the four companies its funds - JANET UK, JISC Collections, JISC Advance and BUFVC.
Implementing the recommendations after this work will ensure that JISC can continue to be responsive to the ever changing needs of further and higher education, it is felt.
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