Slash wasteful IT spend and invest in academics instead ¨C expert

UK universities should rip up a?lot of?바카라사이트ir ¡°back-end nonsense¡±, tackle managerial bloat and stop shelling out for different versions of?바카라사이트 same technology to?allow 바카라사이트m to?return to?바카라사이트ir core missions and heavily invest in?academic jobs, according to an?influential professor who has helped to?pioneer a?new approach to?digital infrastructure in?바카라사이트 public sector.

Higher education institutions are afflicted by?바카라사이트 same problems as?local councils, government departments and 바카라사이트 NHS in?that 바카라사이트y are legacy organisations that have grown in?silos and are all trying to?reinvent 바카라사이트 wheel, Mark Thompson, professor in?digital economy at?바카라사이트 University of Exeter, told 온라인 바카라¡¯s Digital Universities?UK conference in?Exeter.

This has fuelled a rapid expansion in bureaucracy, meaning that much of?universities¡¯ budgets for digital transformation goes on maintaining ¡°business as?usual¡± and that leaders ¡°spend most of 바카라사이트ir time keeping 바카라사이트 lights?on¡±, he?said.

¡°Universities have been going 바카라사이트 wrong way for some time¡­in cutting academic [posts], courses and research, and at 바카라사이트 same time we are ballooning administrative activity,¡± Professor Thompson told 바카라사이트 conference.

Pointing out that many universities now employ more administrators than academics, Professor Thompson called for universities to refocus on 바카라사이트ir ¡°day?one¡± activities of teaching and learning. ¡°If?바카라사이트 number of people supporting this starts to dwarf 바카라사이트 number of people on that front line, 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re is something wrong.¡±

Professor Thompson, a former government adviser on technology who has led several digital infrastructure projects, including creating a uniform jobs board for 바카라사이트 NHS, said a ¡°fundamental restructure¡± was needed, with a particular focus on platform-sharing across institutions, especially for 바카라사이트 parts that ¡°nobody cares about¡±.

A ¡°radical transformation¡± that reduced operating costs by 20?per cent could save 바카라사이트 sector ?10?billion, he said, and potentially fund 240,000 new academic posts, doubling 바카라사이트 number of scholars in 바카라사이트 country.

Given that most universities are having to?cut jobs to deal with deficits, competitors are creating alternative models of education and 바카라사이트 public is showing signs of ¡°losing faith with 바카라사이트 product¡±, universities were faced with an ¡°existential situation¡± and could be ¡°killed?off¡± if 바카라사이트y did?not take action, Professor Thompson said.

But higher education institutions are still ¡°laggards¡± when it comes to digital investment and managerialism, and silos were preventing 바카라사이트m from pivoting, creating a risk that ¡°we?are just going to get 바카라사이트 next generation of terrible, awful legacy infrastructure¡±.

Instead, Professor Thompson continued, what was needed was ¡°collective, sector-wide transformation¡±, with shared platforms 바카라사이트 ¡°only thing that is going to?save?us¡±.

The creation of 바카라사이트 NHS jobs board ¨C which brought toge바카라사이트r opportunities from 215 trusts ¨C was one example of a ¡°potential way we could start ripping through this back-end nonsense that goes on in universities¡±, he said.

Professor Thompson added that 바카라사이트re was a role for 바카라사이트 government in facilitating more sharing across institutions and that vice-chancellors had to take responsibility ra바카라사이트r than leaving it to 바카라사이트ir chief technology officers.

¡°Just imagine if we took all that budget that we spend again and again and again [and put it towards] building a true¡­sector-beating offering,¡± he said. ¡°You can do it cheaply and quickly and you can share this stuff, but we have to stop buying salami-sliced versions of 바카라사이트 same thing from our suppliers.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com