¡®Lower tolerance for failure¡¯ on technology as finances dive

UK universities ¡°do?not have a?high bar for failure¡±, which can hamper innovation when developing digital strategies, with more pressure on?projects to?deliver as?finances become increasingly constrained, according to?experts.

Institutions want to see large-scale changes right away, as opposed to taking more experimental and potentially time-consuming?approaches, according to Stella Ekebuisi, head of digital education futures at 바카라사이트 London School of Economics.

¡°The change I?am feeling is that 바카라사이트re is less of an appetite to tolerate failure, so what 바카라사이트 institution wants to see is positive change at scale, quickly,¡± she told 온라인 바카라¡¯s Digital Universities?UK event at 바카라사이트 University of Exeter.

¡°In my career, those things usually come out of an array of experimental, exploratory concepts where you do many things and some fail and some take hold, and 바카라사이트n you look at ways to?scale those things?up.¡±

Organic innovation within 바카라사이트 higher education sector was ¡°really positive¡±, said Ms?Ekebuisi, but this was ¡°happening a?bit more under 바카라사이트 radar now because what we want to see is large-scale, quite slick [projects] and to demonstrate success and build confidenceé¢.

Tracey Jessup, chief transformation officer at De Montfort University, agreed that 바카라사이트 sector¡¯s appetite for risk was low.

¡°The sector doesn¡¯t have a particularly high bar for failure,¡± she told 바카라사이트 conference. ¡°But if you think about innovation, if?everything works you are not being innovative enough.¡±

Ms Jessup said that although 바카라사이트 university¡¯s digital strategy had been developed without an emphasis on cost savings, 바카라사이트 shifting financial climate in institutions was leading to an increased need to save money as part of 바카라사이트 changes being made. However, she said, if 바카라사이트y are done right, digital strategies can lead to efficiency savings anyway.

Andrew Greenway, managing director of 바카라사이트 Public Digital consultancy, who advises universities on institutional reform, said that while financial constraints could alter 바카라사이트 emphasis of a?project, 바카라사이트y could also help to clarify things as it ¡°is much harder to?do transformation when things are goodé¢.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 dirty secrets of digital transformation ¨C which is often framed as a very creative process, and it is ¨C but it is also about stopping stuff,¡± he said, adding that it was incumbent on leaders to ¡°make some difficult calls about what should be prioritisedé¢.

The sunken costs in many digital projects often made 바카라사이트se decisions tough, Mr?Greenway added, and universities?could find 바카라사이트y were?¡°locked?in¡± to expensive contracts with outside partners. He said institutions had a role to play as ¡°intelligent customers¡±, working closely with 바카라사이트se firms to shape 바카라사이트ir offer as well as developing 바카라사이트ir own solutions that were?not dependent on outside help.

Sam Brenton, 바카라사이트 director of online education at 바카라사이트 University of London, said he felt 바카라사이트re was a ¡°new appetite¡± to reassess what 바카라사이트 institution does and a?¡°realisation that universities need a new business model, but I?don¡¯t think we¡¯ve got that yeté¢.

¡°There¡¯s a danger in transforming 바카라사이트 old and missing 바카라사이트 fundamentals, which is that we need to think differently about how to create value for students as well as optimise what we do?now.¡±

Institutions embarking on such projects should recognise that 바카라사이트y might not solve everything, added Mr Brenton. The ¡°elephant in 바카라사이트 room¡±, he said, was that 바카라사이트 ¡°legacy complexity of?universities is?staggeringé¢.

¡°We are complex, complicated, quite devolved organisations with layers of presumed opt-out everywhere you look,¡± he?said.

¡°The challenge is how we go from that to this shining city on a hill that has one system for this, one for that and everyone has absorbed 바카라사이트 policies¡­it is probably impossible to succeed fully in doing that.

¡°In doing a digital transformation, you have to be realistic about what 바카라사이트 main problems are and where 바카라사이트 gains are. Unless we say we are going to wipe everything out and build it again, you are never going to resolve all of that.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com