Digital strategies in

UK higher education:
making digital mainstream
Contents

3 Foreword

5 Introduction: the need for strategic digital

approaches

8 Adopting a strategic transformational approach

11 How does digital fit alongside other institutional

strategies?

12 What components do you need for digital success?

21 How might digital shape HE over the longer term?

24 Prompts to create your own digital strategy

27 Conclusion: making digital mainstream

28 Contributors

29 Example digital strategies

29 Further reading

30 References

31 Supporting you

Report by Nick Skelton, commissioned by Jisc

January 2023
 Foreword | 3

Foreword

Higher education is at a pivotal point as

universities shift from recovering from the
pandemic to resetting their institutions for
increasingly uncertain times.

Challenges such as confidence and resilience of staff, are equally

the economic crisis important to realise digital transformation.
and constraints of Institutions are increasingly looking to add
resourcing, specific digital skills to their boards, creating
alongside the impact new board positions focused on digital
of COVID-19 on staff transformation and success, and filling either
wellbeing, mean it through elevation of existing digital leadership
has never been more or recruitment.
important to invest
in digital. This report, along with our framework for digital
transformation, highlights the opportunities for
This time of challenge and disruption means transforming the student experience. It provides
that universities are revisiting their strategies insights into how universities are taking
for digital. This report provides a snapshot of how forward their digital strategies, as well as
universities are developing, implementing and exploring the critical success factors for their
evaluating the impact of their digital strategies. implementation. It features ten senior leaders
outlining their visions for digital and what they
Our research shows that there is a spectrum are putting in place to drive forward change
of digital maturity. For some universities, digital – whether that be technical, cultural or
is embedded throughout corporate strategies pedagogical. We look to the future and suggest
and is a cornerstone of every aspect of university some scenarios for how digital may change
life. For others, distinct digital strategies unify and expand provision. We also offer some
technology’s role in supporting the student, prompts for those tasked with developing a
staff and researcher experience and all the digital strategy.
underpinning business processes.
We hope this inspires, challenges and
At Jisc we know how important it is to invest supports your thinking on taking forward
in a university’s technical infrastructure to digital transformation within your university,
ensure a secure and reliable digital and we look forward to working with you as
environment. However, investment in staff is you progress with your digital visions.
also paramount. Supporting leaders with their
evolving understanding of the possibilities of Liam Earney, managing director higher
digital technologies, together with continued education and research, Jisc
support for developing the digital capability,
4 | Introduction: the need for strategic digital approaches

Universities that get to grips with

the digital and data-driven future
will succeed. Universities that do
not will find it harder and harder to
operate cost effectively and
efficiently, to recruit and retain the
best students and to ensure the
best possible student experience.
Ben Barry, director of digital services,
University of Wolverhampton
 Introduction: the need for strategic digital approaches | 5

Introduction: the need for strategic

digital approaches

Digital technologies play a central role in all core

business areas of higher education (HE) organisations.

Taking a strategic and organisation-wide This report is intended as a snapshot of the

approach to adopting, implementing and UK HE sector at this point in time. It describes
developing digital technologies is critical in the aspirations universities have for the future,
underpinning the long-term success and but also the realities of where they are right
sustainability of universities. now, the challenges they face and what they
know they need to put in place.
In 2020, Universities UK, Jisc and Emerge
Education, together with technical partner Most universities have undertaken several
Salesforce, developed a long-term digital stages in their digital journey. In some cases
strategy framework (Iosad, 2020). It aimed to the journey has been sparked by a strategy; in
help university leaders build on their rapid others it has been a response to specific
response experiences during the pandemic. localised problems, such as moving from
Now, in 2023, how are UK universities analogue to digital content or improving
articulating their digital strategies? The picture operational efficiencies (Reinitz, 2020).
is varied. Some are creating specific digital
transformation strategies, while others are HE organisations have invested substantially
incorporating digital across existing strategies. in changes to business processes. On the
educational technology side, there has been a
Jisc commissioned this work to develop a focus on the management of education, rather
better understanding of the current state of than on education itself. When first introduced,
digital strategies in UK HE, and how Jisc can the virtual learning environment (VLE) offered
best help universities with ambitions to use many pedagogical opportunities, but in
digital in transforming their activities. practice it was the administrative functionality,
such as for the submission and distribution of
We interviewed ten digital leaders from UK coursework, that made the VLE an
universities with a range of roles and indispensable tool. Where, pre-pandemic,
responsibilities, from vice-presidents to IT some universities had responded to students’
directors. We also reviewed written strategies need for greater flexibility, such as by offering
from other universities and attended conferences recorded lectures, they generally positioned
and events across the sector where digital the digital experience as ancillary to the
strategy was a key theme. We obtained an in-person experience.
international perspective through reviewing
research into digital transformation from
EDUCAUSE and others.
6 | Introduction: the need for strategic digital approaches

In 2020, the pandemic changed everything. used the VLE as an adjunct to in-person
Universities went wholly online, achieving teaching, such as a repository to distribute
within weeks what might previously have taken presentations and handouts. Feedback from
years. For a while the only experience of students highlighted that lecturers stored and
education was a digital experience. But the organised material in the VLE differently,
quickest way to carry out this emergency making information difficult to find (Jisc,
switch to remote learning was to take what 2020). In contrast, other universities had
had been delivered in person and mirror it already invested staff time in rewriting and
online, without always rethinking pedagogy to restructuring learning material and had
take full advantage of the medium. produced resources that engaged students
online. The universities with this in-house
Across the sector, staff made incredible efforts experience had a head start in providing the
to do the best for their students. But varying best digital education for their students.
investment in digital before COVID-19 meant
that some universities were better prepared
than others. In many institutions, staff had
 Introduction: the need for strategic digital approaches | 7

During the early days of the pandemic, There is a spread of digital maturity across the
universities saw the impact of digital poverty sector. As we move forward from the pandemic,
on learning. Students experienced challenges many universities are looking to learn from
around accessing technologies and those institutions which have pioneered digital
connectivity, and in finding appropriate spaces learning for many years. Digital offers benefits
to study. The Office for Students (Office for too important to ignore. It can offer greater
Students, 2020) and Jisc (Maguire, Dale and resilience in response to disruptions. It can
Pauli, 2020) highlighted the need for universities provide greater flexibility, so students can
to strengthen their response to digital poverty access education that fits with their lives. It
by providing additional funding or means to can bring in additional revenue for the university,
reduce digital poverty as a barrier to students through short courses and fully online
accessing higher education. This challenge is programmes. But the digital journey is not
increasingly evident in 2022 as we encounter a easy. It requires universities to be realistic about
cost of living crisis likely to worsen student where they already are, the journey they are on,
poverty (Dickinson, 2022a). and the resources needed to reach their goals.
8 | Adopting a strategic transformational approach

Adopting a strategic
transformational approach

Many universities describe an ambition for digital

transformation. EDUCAUSE defines digital transformation
as: “a series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce
and technology shifts that enable new educational and
operating models and transform an institution’s operations,
strategic directions, and value proposition.”

Adopting a new approach to digital should The US company EAB has been researching
acknowledge and build on the successes of digital transformation for some years. Even
previous strategic approaches to technological after the acceleration brought on the sector by
development, innovation and implementation. COVID-19, EAB describes genuine digital
Digital transformation is about improving the transformation in HE as frustratingly elusive.
culture and business models of an institution,
moving on from a focus on specific technologies, EAB classifies many HE digital initiatives as
digitisation and localised processes. ‘innovation theatre’: pockets of technology in
individual areas, which don’t scale beyond the
Within a university, the concept of digital individual department. At its best, innovation
transformation can be influenced by who is theatre can make a difference, although only
leading the conversations and the terminology for a small group of stakeholders. At its worst,
being used. Developing a shared understanding innovation theatre is the result of starting with
of terminology is a significant aspect of a new technology and then casting around for
engaging all stakeholders with the concept. a business reason to apply it.

At Keele University, chief information officer Where can we find true digital transformation
(CIO) and university librarian Dan Perry avoids within HE? Transformation most readily arises
using the word transformation at all: where there is a genuine need and obvious
benefit.
“I didn’t want to make this digital thing a
huge thing, a huge new strategy. For academic staff and students, digital
Transformation is a dangerous double- transformation could look like new online
edged sword. There may be areas where postgraduate programmes, with a mix of
we will make very substantial changes, asynchronous and live learning, providing
where we transform. But Keele University flexibility with multiple start dates per year.
has been doing education since 1949! I will Programmes might be constructed from
build on that, not transform that.” modules that can also be taken as standalone
options or in different sequences (micro-
 Adopting a strategic transformational approach | 9

credentials). Some students might choose Digital change requires resources and
their own modules from a variety of different investment in technology, people and skills.
programmes, personalising their curriculum. But when planning and resourcing digital we
must not make digital transformation a single,
For professional services staff, digital huge multi-million programme, with unrealistic
transformation may be a flexible digital expectations. Digital should not be a great
workplace that allows them to work productively monolith. Digital strategies are best implemented
from anywhere, on or off campus. This might as a collection of joined-up smaller initiatives,
combine collaboration technology (eg Microsoft which can be scaled up and replicated. If the
Teams), agreed etiquette and ways of working institutional corporate strategy is clear, small
(collaborative document editing), and new initiatives will contribute to a shared strategic
cultures (assessing staff by their outputs ambition, moving the university forward.
rather than the time spent at their desks).
Jisc is currently working with sector bodies
Developing a shared sector-wide understanding and experts to develop a framework for digital
of digital transformation may be challenging, but transformation and a maturity model toolkit
we can concentrate on what is helpful within it: that will help higher education organisations
consider where they are in relation to a range
• Across the sector, universities are keen to of aspects. These include strategic vision and
make meaningful change throughout the planning, developing cultures and partnerships
whole of their organisations for innovation, business processes and
operations, staff development and reward. It
• Technology offers opportunities for new aims to help higher education organisations
higher education business models, operating consider how their digital environment
with greater flexibility beyond the previous supports positive work, research and learning
constraints of the physical campus and experiences, and fosters a sense of belonging
academic calendar and wellbeing.

• Successful digital change doesn’t focus on

technology, it is about people and changes
to cultures and working practices
10 | How does digital fit alongside other institutional strategies?

My best advice for a college or university with

digital transformation ambitions is to recognise
that the path to digital transformation (Dx) is a
journey and needs to be recognised as such.
More than just a metaphor, this approach
means that you need to assess where you are
realistically, plan for the trip, begin with the end
in mind, and start the journey with a view
toward flexibility and an expectation that it may
not be a straight path. This is why we created
the EDUCAUSE Dx Journeymap, which takes
you through the three phases we’ve identified
to create a plan and put it into motion.
John O’Brien, president and CEO of EDUCAUSE
 How does digital fit alongside other institutional strategies? | 11

How does digital fit alongside other

institutional strategies?

Some universities will develop a specific digital strategy

but, for others, digital is a theme within the corporate
strategy or it may be incorporated into all existing strategies.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to other areas of the university to ensure that
digital strategy/ies. Digital depends on the they integrate digital. Digital will be woven into
context of each organisation, who is responsible core plans.
for initiating and leading it and how far the
whole organisation becomes engaged and Oliver Davy is the chief digital officer at the
involved in achieving the organisation-wide University of Derby. Oliver believes that the
vision for digital transformation. best institutional strategies assume the
existence of digital capabilities and weave
When Dan Perry joined Keele University, the IT them seamlessly into the overall objectives.
service was technology focused. Dan didn’t So, he says, if you must write a digital strategy,
want to write a technology strategy. To make make it your final digital strategy. This final
the point, and shift the focus of his team, he digital strategy may be necessary to create
renamed the department ‘Information and missing institutional capabilities, but thereafter
digital services’. those capabilities should be fully exploited in
all other areas of the university.
What goes into a digital strategy? For Dan, a
digital strategy needs to cover people, In contrast, at the University of Greenwich,
technology and culture. But above all, it needs Paul Butler, director of IT and library services,
to connect to the university’s institutional/ has led the creation of three digital strategies
corporate strategy. Keele University’s strategy over the last ten years. There is continuity
has three broad themes: education, research through the strategies: gradually building the
and community/region. So the digital strategy foundations, getting them right, and then
is structured accordingly, explaining how moving on to building value for the university.
digital will support each area. A digital strategy The University of Greenwich’s digital strategy
also needs to show how it can enhance what 2022-2030 coincided with a new vice-
makes an institution distinctive. For Keele, this chancellor and a new university strategy. So
is the university campus and community, so the digital strategy was developed as one of
digital campus is the fourth theme in the six sub-strategies within the new university
university’s digital strategy. strategy. The sub-strategies were all linked to
each other and launched at the same time.
At Loughborough University, director of IT The digital sub-strategy does not belong only
services Vipin Ahlawat agrees that digital to the IT department, it belongs to everyone.
connects directly to the institution’s corporate An IT strategy board with representatives from
strategy. Vipin wants to avoid the idea that across the university has shared ownership
digital is standalone. Instead, he will work with and collective responsibility for the strategy.
12 | What components do you need for digital success?

What components do you

need for digital success?
 What components do you need for digital success? | 13

What does a university need to be

successful in digital?

Certain common themes emerged

repeatedly in the interviews:

1. Robust and secure technology

infrastructure, regularly upgraded
and improved

2. Effective processes for managing

investment and change

3. Strong stakeholder engagement and

customer focus

4. Digitally aware executive leadership

5. Development of all stakeholders’

digital skills and capabilities

6.Evidence-based centres of expertise

in digital research and education.
14 | What components do you need for digital success?

1. Robust and secure 2. Effective processes for

technology infrastructure, managing investment and
regularly upgraded and change
improved
For a successful digital strategy, universities
City, University of London has an ambitious may need to reconsider the role and remit of
digital agenda, but in its initial approach to their “IT department”.
digital transformation it is prioritising “fixing
the basics”: systems, infrastructure and data. Technology is more than a distinct professional
service, it now crosses all areas of institutional
City is not alone. Across the sector, many activity. This is most clearly seen within digital
institutions still need to improve their essential education teams, who are often headed by an
infrastructure. Network, power and data centre academic staff member, and occupy what has
failures can cause interruptions to service for been described as a third space between
many hours. Investment is needed to ensure academic functions and professional functions.
resilience and reliability of the infrastructure. Digital is at the heart of research, education
and the student experience.
If organisations have not got the basics of
technology right, they don’t have the credibility How we think about technology is changing.
to move forward. The last infrastructure
outage, or the last IT change programme that • In the IT era there was a focus on processes.
failed to deliver benefit, casts a shadow over Technology was seen as a cost centre,
the next bid for investment. Universities that albeit one that delivered efficiencies (cost
want world-class services need to build them savings) elsewhere
on world-class infrastructure, and recognise
that infrastructure is an essential enabler. • In the digital era there is a focus on business
models and customer outcomes. For this,
The answer could be to look at the basics and technology needs to be seen as a target for
the transformational simultaneously: investment, where the investment will unlock
greater value (higher income) elsewhere
• Put investment into basic infrastructure.
This includes pervasive wifi so students can Chris Condron, chief digital officer at University
study across campus and in halls of of the Arts London (UAL), joined the HE sector
residence, cloud file storage and collaboration in 2021. Chris highlights a difference between
tools so that staff can work as easily from HE and other sectors:
home as on site, and multi-factor
authentication to reduce cyber attacks “Often the HE sector sees digital primarily
as a cost, not a builder and deliverer of
• In parallel, start some more transformational value. You can see this in budgets, and in
digital initiatives, initially small in scope and reporting lines, with IT often reporting into
resources. See which of these do well, and finance. Seeing technology primarily as a
meet real needs, invest in them further and cost centre will continue to hold HE back in
iteratively refine them the digital world.”
 What components do you need for digital success? | 15

Most universities operate through a traditional Aligning IT with other functions: the rise of
project and programme management hybrid IT departments
approach, using the PRINCE2 framework. Chris Where should an IT/digital service sit within a
describes how this is supposed to work: university? With which other services should it
align? There is no single answer to this, it will
“Often, projects carry out extensive analysis depend on the priorities of the institution.
to produce a thorough scope and business Hybrid departments, which do far more than
case for investment. The decision passes traditional IT, appear to be on the rise.
up the organisation until it reaches a board,
often without technologists. The board At Keele University, CIO and university librarian
approves a capital or project sum, but little Dan Perry does not see himself as a technologist.
or no ongoing operational funding. The He says, “digital is not about tin and wires”. For
project launches, often disappointingly, Dan, digital is about how Keele innovates and
with little resource planned to improve it transforms in support of the key themes in the
once it is live and in the hands of real users.” university strategy: education, research, plus
the local community and region. Digital is a
Traditional project management techniques fundamental enabler of the academic mission
may be a good fit for managing a construction of the university. At Keele, it makes sense that
project, where the resulting building could have IT is aligned with the library, an undoubted
a life of many decades. They are a poor fit for academic function, and takes a leadership role
digital projects, where both technologies and in the new Digital Society Institute that has
user requirements change frequently. research at its core.

Instead, digital initiatives work well when they Similarly, at the University of Greenwich, where
are small and often and when the first version Paul Butler is director of information and library
is released early and then improved using services, the university’s learning and teaching
iterative feedback from users. support team recently moved to become part
of the information and library services directorate.
Chris Condron says:
At Derby, chief digital officer Oliver Davy
“Digital puts the users and their needs at highlights the value of a team with different
the heart. It is a circular and iterative skills and qualifications:
process, based on talking with people. At
no point do we know everything. It is an “I have people with teaching qualifications
ongoing process – operational expenditure in what was traditionally an IT department.
heavy rather than capital expenditure heavy. These people make it easier to improve
We just iterate to make it better. An usability, drive digital adoption and produce
approach that brings users and high-quality learning resources.”
technologists closer together. It is realistic,
human, open to compromise.”

The University of Greenwich has a two-tier

approach to budgeting digital projects. The
most significant and expensive initiatives still
require a full, detailed business case, approved
through the usual structures. But there is also
an annual strategy fund, used to resource
smaller initiatives and approved through a
lightweight process. This helps the university
to be agile, responding quickly to opportunities.
16 | What components do you need for digital success?

At Derby, CDO Oliver Davy thinks similarly.

3. Strong stakeholder
Oliver believes that we need to concentrate on
engagement and
what we can prove works – what users respond
customer focus
to and use – as evidenced by surveys and
other data. We can then run this efficiently,
Digital systems, tools and services support a
with a repeatable process. Oliver says:
range of work, research and learning practices
across a university, all of which generate and
“We don’t want to get into the ‘it depends’.
use a huge amount of data.
When you get into ‘it depends’ you call a
meeting, and then that’s when the resources
Collecting and analysing this data can help with
required for digital learning balloons.”
understanding staff and student expectations
and experiences, and is one important aspect
James Cale, director of digital services at
of gathering stakeholder input and feedback.
University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD),
Involving all stakeholders in shaping digital
has established a digital strategy monitoring
strategy and engaging with implementation
group to review and monitor progress on the
plans to achieve a shared vision is critical to
digital strategy. There are representative
help leaders make informed and sustainable
members from students, staff and external
digital decisions.
representatives. The group uses data from
existing surveys (eg the National Student
At UAL, Chris Condron says:
Survey – NSS), as well as the Jisc digital
experience insights survey for students, to
“We need to put the user (students and
monitor student experiences and expectations
staff), and their needs, at the heart of our
of technology.
services. More so than a single important
person’s opinion, including the chief digital
officer! Governance and senior stakeholders
4. Digitally aware
have a role to play in great service
executive leadership
development, but it’s essential we build
users into the design and also ongoing
A critical factor for successful digital
development of the services we provide.”
transformation is having digitally capable senior
leaders. Many universities are appointing a board
Keele University’s CIO, Dan Perry, says that he
member with digital expertise to drive forward
“didn’t want decisions coming from 50-year-old
digital transformation.
men!” Dan and other senior leaders may have
hunches and opinions about what will work,
Senior leaders need to be able to:
but these may be incorrect. Instead of relying
solely on opinions, he wants to base decisions
• Contribute to an inspiring digital vision that
on evidence. So Keele has digital student focus
aligns with organisational principles and goals
groups. A staff member runs facilitated focus
groups with different groups of students. If
• Build digital partnerships and networks
services can be improved, eg if a service doesn’t
across the organisation
work on a mobile phone, or a new service is
needed, the students make this very clear.
• Model good digital practice
 What components do you need for digital success? | 17

• Work with all appropriate stakeholders to learning and teaching qualifications, supporting
make the digital vision a reality through academic staff to assist the digital transformation
wise investment and effective planning of the university.

• Support the development of a digital culture The University of Leeds digital education service
annual report shows that, by 2021, the service
• Support the development of a digitally had helped increase engagement with the
capable organisation Leeds virtual learning environment (110 million
page views), deliver 116 online short courses
• Support flexible and adaptive responses to to more than two million learners, and launch
the impacts of digital transformation two fully online degrees.

Some senior leaders will need training, The service has three priorities:
mentoring or support to feel confident enough
to be able to do all of these. • Enhance the digital education experience of
Leeds’ taught students and postgraduate
“Having a digitally savvy top leadership researchers, on campus and online
team – that is, a team in which more than
half of the executive members are digitally • Grow the university’s fully online education
savvy – makes a huge difference. Our portfolio of degrees, sub-degree
latest research shows that large enterprises qualifications and short courses, helping
with digitally savvy executive teams generate revenue for the university
outperformed comparable companies
without such teams by more than 48% • Work in partnership with global universities
based on revenue growth and valuation.” and technology partners to co-create open,
Weill and Shah, 2021 community-based, sustainable online
education that supports lifelong learning
In 2020, the University of Leeds appointed aligned to the university’s research strengths
Professor Simone Buitendijk as vice-chancellor. - University of Leeds Digital Education
Simone has ten years of interest in and Service Strategy, July 2021
experience with digital education. Leeds now
also has a deputy vice-chancellor (student “Digital transformation is at the heart of
education), who previously led a centre for the University of Leeds strategy. There is
innovation in learning and technology, plus complete senior buy-in, commitment to
three deans for digital transformation, and a resource, empower, engage and support
digital education academic lead for each faculty. colleagues and teams to harness
technological progress delivering locally
Leeds is a large university with 40,000 students. anchored global impact.”
Even accounting for this, the investment into Professor Arunangsu Chatterjee, dean of
digital education at Leeds is substantially digital transformation, University of Leeds.
beyond that elsewhere. The Digital Education
Service at Leeds has grown from a small team
to a critical function with more than 100 staff.
These are professional staff, some with
18 | What components do you need for digital success?

Developing capability takes time and effort, a

5. Development of all
big ask when many university staff already feel
stakeholders’ digital skills
overstretched. Putting skills development at
and capabilities
the heart of a digital strategy helps to make it
clear that this is a shared organisational priority,
All staff and students need to become digitally
instead of a responsibility sitting on the
fluent to work and learn effectively in a digital
shoulders of individual staff members.
environment.

An organisation-wide digital capability framework 2 Further information about the work of

and plan can ensure that this critical factor for UWTSD is available from the Jisc case study,
success is not marginalised or allocated to Freeing students and staff from the confines
one team. It relates to staff recruitment, of the classroom.
training and development, retention, recognition
and reward. It also links to organisational
wellbeing and sustainability and to creating a
positive working and learning environment that
can attract high-quality staff and students.

James Cale is director of digital services at

University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, UWTSD
rapidly deployed new technology, specifically
Microsoft Teams, as a platform for remote
teaching and collaboration. But how could it
move from short-term, reactive work, to a
long-term digital education approach?

UWTSD identified a skills gap and lack of

digital confidence among staff. UWTSD
already had the technology. What it needed
was to give people the skills, ability and
confidence to use the technology. Its strategy
would focus on people, not technology.

UWTSD created:

• A digital learning and teaching standards

document: a conceptual framework which
sets out a pedagogical approach for
blended learning at UWTSD

• A digital skills website for staff and students.

This used Jisc’s building digital capability
discovery tool, a self-assessment reflective
tool, to help staff and students evaluate
their current digital capabilities. Having
established a current skill level from the
discovery tool, the website guided staff to
relevant learning resources to help develop
skills further2
 What components do you need for digital success? | 19

How does a centre of expertise in digital help

6. Evidence-based centres
broader strategy? It offers a depth of experience
of expertise in digital
within the institution, which can inform the
research and education
institution’s own strategy. It can help to join up
and amplify the impact of digital, across
Some of the universities in this study have well
research, teaching and all the university’s
established academic digital research institutes,
missions. It can provide a rigorous evidence
such as the Centre for Research in Digital
base, a knowledge of what works. This helps
Education at the University of Leeds, which
the institution do the right thing and smooths
works alongside the professional digital
the adoption process, as academic staff are
education service. Others, like UWTSD, do not
more likely to accept change when it comes
have a digital research centre, but have an
from a well-researched evidence base.
ambition to create one.

Keele University has KIITE, the Keele Institute

for Innovation and Teaching Excellence, which
designs and underpins the Keele curriculum.
The university also recently launched the Keele
Digital Society Institute. This is an
interdisciplinary institute, intended to bring
together the university’s existing digital research
and practice, regardless of discipline, to produce
impact at scale.
20 | How might digital shape HE over the longer-term?

There is an argument that the whole model

of universities in the UK is wrong. We are still
wedded to a three-year model, building up
progressive knowledge over time. The
professional and regulatory bodies are very
traditional. The student funding model is very
traditional. Compare this to the US, where the
way credits work leads to a different way of
learning, a more flexible way.

Students want to fit learning around their

professional, working lives. UK universities
are based on a stereotypical full-time
Oxbridge-style view of what a university
should be. But if a student wants to pause
for a semester due to non-university work,
why shouldn’t they? The problem at the
moment is that it is difficult to break away
from the constraints in the current system.
Professor Susannah Quinsee, vice-president (digital and
student experience) City, University of London
 How might digital shape HE over the longer term? | 21

How might digital shape HE

over the longer term?

What might higher education look like in ten years?

Predicting the future is always challenging, even
more so in today’s changing global landscape.

A good way to do it is to embrace a sentiment • The university will attract a wider

from speculative fiction writer William Gibson: population of students, including more
“The future is already here – it's just not evenly part-time and mature students, who may
distributed”. We can spot where the future has return repeatedly for short courses and
already arrived, and the direction trends are programmes over many years
moving in.
• There will be a new focus on specific
Digital transformation strategies often take a measures to create community, replacing
long-term view and require considerable some of the incidental community building
‘futures thinking’. From our conversations we that occurs when people come together at
identified these current trends, which we the same place and time
predict will influence the universities of 2030:

• Digital technology eases established

constraints on the university: space (the
campus) and time (the weekly timetable
and annual cycle of the academic calendar).
Some activities will shift from live to on-
demand, creating capacity and providing
more convenience

• Through the easing of previous constraints,

operations can be more resilient, universities
can offer greater flexibility to students, and
research can become more collaborative,
across multiple research groups,
disciplines and institutions
22 | How might digital shape HE over the longer term?

Theme Implications
Campus space Space requirements on campus will change, with fewer large lectures and more
space for small group teaching and self-study.

Large, in-person lectures will be reserved for plenary events with prestigious
guest speakers. These create a sense of occasion and bring the cohort together.
Other ‘information delivery’ lectures will be replaced with short video lectures,
interviews and podcasts, available on demand for students to study at a time that
suits them.

Collaborative small group teaching through workshops and seminars will be

conducted as live, synchronous events on campus (alongside online synchronous
and asynchronous collaboration activities).

There will be less need for traditional tiered lecture theatres, more need for flat
spaces suitable for group work, and more need for study spaces where students
can access on-demand educational resources.

Online and international Some programmes will be offered entirely off-campus and online, particularly
at postgraduate level where students are less likely to want the traditional
campus experience.

For some universities, online learning will be an important part of international

expansion. However, the online learning marketplace is competitive, and simply
offering online programmes does not make every university a global university.
Each institution has a certain brand radius, from within which most of its students
are drawn. Expansion may come by launching a carefully selected subset of
academic programmes online, which play to an institution’s existing strengths.

Timetable and academic Universities will start to break away from the traditional annual cycle of the
cycle academic year and tyranny of the timetable.

The notion of ‘contact hours’ will shift to a broader consideration of academic

‘presence’ (White, 2020) – eg staff offering live text chat, recorded audio-visual
feedback, as well as in-person live sessions.

Some institutions will switch to block teaching (Jackson et al, 2020), with students
completing each module as an intensive block, rather than a few hours each week
stripped over a semester.

In some disciplines modules will be redesigned so that they can be taken in any
order. Postgraduate courses will have two or three entry dates each year.

Resilient to disruption Universities will be more resilient and flexible, able to operate even in case of
pandemic disease, war, and other global crises.

For example, the emergency switch to remote learning in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic.
 How might digital shape HE over the longer term? | 23

Theme Implications
Flexible and on demand More learning materials will be available on demand, for students to study at a
time which suits them. A simpler timetable will make it easier for students to
choose their own academic pathways.

Many students will still study traditional programmes, but those who want flexibility
will be able to put modules together from a larger range of disciplines, carrying out
personalised, interdisciplinary study3.

Collaborative research at Research will be conducted by academic teams of multiple research groups,
scale institutions and disciplines: ‘team science’.

Multi-group research already occurs, but typically each research group will be
responsible for specific work packages focusing on a part of the problem. With
new collaboration tools and working practices, teams can be assembled and
managed to look at the bigger picture.

Researchers will use a combination of standard business software (eg Microsoft

Teams) and specialist research platforms (eg Octopus), to organise their work,
share data and publish research findings almost as they happen.

Long-term relationships A growing number of lifelong learning students will start to displace the
with increasingly diverse stereotype of the ‘traditional’ 18-year-old, full-time, on-campus student.
students
These new students will be mature, in employment, with family lives and caring
responsibilities, studying part-time. Studying at university will be only one of many
competing aspects in their lives.

Universities will cultivate a genuinely long-term relationship with their students,

encouraging them to return for short digital courses to refresh and extend their
skills. Whether a student is satisfied enough to become a repeat customer will
become a key metric. Revenue from alumni purchasing digital courses will exceed
charitable donations from alumni.

Focus on community- The idea of university as a community of scholars will regain new importance4.
building
There will be fewer opportunities for some of the traditional, incidental community
building occasions and venues (such as queues in corridors before lectures, café
chats). To replace the opportunities which arose incidentally there will need to be a new
explicit emphasis on building community in both physical spaces and digital forums.

Researchers want to network successfully in digital spaces and meet new partners
for research collaboration. There will be a renewed emphasis on orientation and
induction for new students, to help them develop a sense of belonging and access
peer support.

3. Eg the Open University’s Open Programme: open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/exhibition/222

4. Community is one of the three overarching themes in the latest strategy for the University of Leeds: https://
spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/strategy/
24 | Prompts to create your own digital strategy

Prompts to create your own

digital strategy

A good corporate strategy offers a clear vision and helps an

organisation make choices about what to focus on.

Each university has its own characteristics and attracts ensure they have clarity on what they will and will not
a distinct population of students. For example, if one do in the coming years.
university sees opportunities to create short online
courses for continuing professional development, it does When creating a digital strategy for your own
not follow that all institutions would want to pursue institution, or embedding digital into existing strategies,
the same market. it may help to consider the questions overleaf.

Some universities have already integrated digital Some of these questions are taken from the Jisc/
strategies into their corporate strategy and have a Emerge Education report Digital at the core: A 2030
well-established sense of direction. Other universities strategy framework for university leaders, (Iosad, 2020)
will want to use the enforced change of the pandemic which contains many other helpful prompts to consider.
as a prompt to develop a new digital strategy, to
 Prompts to create your own digital strategy | 25

Where do we focus our attention How do we gather data,

and resources? to know what is needed?
• What is our attitude to digital: is our main priority operational • How do we baseline our existing digital
resilience and business continuity; enhancing the university’s maturity and capability?
mission; or major changes to our business model?
• How do we gather the expectations and
• How could digital enhance the unique selling point and experiences of our staff, students and
reputation of our institution? other stakeholders, to ensure we truly
understand requirements for the digital
• How can digital improve learning, teaching and assessment? systems they use?

• How can digital drive our research forward? • How do we unlock the data insights
sitting within different IT systems to
• How can digital improve our links to the local region, or
improve decision-making?
our global presence?

• In which of these areas do we want to be a digital

exemplar for the sector, and where do we want to follow?

• How do we provide an inclusive experience for students

with different needs (eg digital poverty, disabilities,
part-time, carers and international students)?

• How do we make sure our organisational practices, buildings

and technologies are environmentally sustainable?

What do we need to put in place for successful digital change?

• Which internal processes and governance structures need to change so that we can track the performance
of our digital strategy, and respond to new opportunities in an agile way?

• How do we improve the digital capabilities and confidence of all our staff?

• How do we ensure the wellbeing of staff and students working and learning in a digital environment?

• Is there sufficient digital awareness among the executive team and the board for them to make informed
decisions in strategic digital areas, to inspire and model good practice?

• Should we have a centre of expertise in digital practice within the organisation, with an evidence base to
know what works?

• What would our IT infrastructure and core systems look like if we started afresh today?
26 | Conclusion: making digital mainstream

I often subscribe to the view that you

shouldn’t have a digital strategy, any more
than you would have an electricity strategy.
What matters is how digital supports the
pillars of the university strategy. But
sometimes it is useful to have a digital
strategy, and a member of the top team with
digital responsibility, so that there is
something for digital to coalesce around.
Professor Susannah Quinsee, vice president for digital and
student experience, City, University of London
 Conclusion: making digital mainstream | 27

Conclusion:
making digital mainstream

Following the pandemic, universities are driving forward

digital transformation by changing cultures, working
practices and business models to benefit the university
missions for education and research. Developing long-
term digital transformation strategies is a focus for many
organisations right now.

There will come a point when digital will no However, the pace of change can have a
longer be a focus for our attention. Digital significant impact on how well people in
technology is already becoming standard and organisations adapt and accept new practices.
pervasive in the environment. Rather than Peter Bryant, associate dean (education) at the
technology being seen as other, it will become University of Sydney Business School wrote a
mainstream. blog post in January 2021 that discussed the
snapback – the tendency for people to want to
To reach this stage, universities need appropriate, ‘return to normal’ after their experiences during
reliable and secure technologies and networks, the early stages of the pandemic. In his post
which work effectively to support a wide range he offers examples of the challenges of online
of operations. Investment in technology is critical exams and the desire to return to in-person
but universities also need to invest to improve teaching. Two years later, the UK HE sector is
the digital capabilities, skills and confidence of trying to balance the potential that digital
their staff and students. This includes basic pedagogy offers for many with government
competence in using digital tools and techniques, pressure to return to wholly face-to-face
as well as more advanced and specialised teaching (The Education Hub Media Officer,
digital capabilities for learning, research or 2022; Dickinson, 2022b).
specific job roles. A digitally capable
organisation is crucial for ensuring success of Technology will improve and build on the
digital transformation strategies. functions of universities, not replace them.
Education and research are fundamentally
In reality, there is a spread of digital maturity human activities and the people that engage
within most universities, from small instances with them need to be supported and nurtured
of innovation projects or initiatives that have to make the most of the opportunities these
yet to be proved before becoming mainstream activities bring. Digital technology has the
to organisation-wide implementations that are potential to amplify human interactions, over
the result of strategic leadership. There is room time and distance, so people can study, work
for both as higher education organisations and research together, in new, flexible ways.
continue to respond to external pressures. Successful universities will understand, embrace
and use digital at the core of their mission.
28 | Contributors

Contributors

Jisc would like to thank all the contributors to this report for their
time and insights. Particular thanks are due to the following, who
produced case studies or were interviewed for the report:

• Vipin Ahlawat, director of IT services, University of Loughborough

• Ben Barry, director of digital services, University of Wolverhampton

• Dr Rachel Bence, CIO, Queen Mary University London

• Paul Butler, director of IT and library services, University of Greenwich

• James Cale, director of digital services, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

• Professor Arunangsu Chatterjee, dean of digital transformation, University of Leeds

• Chris Condron, chief digital officer, University of the Arts London

• Oliver Davy, chief digital officer, University of Derby

• John O’Brien, president and CEO of EDUCAUSE

• Dan Perry, CIO and university librarian, University of Keele

• Professor Susannah Quinsee, vice-president (digital and student experience), City, University of London
 Example digital strategies | 29

Example digital strategies

If you are looking to create your own digital strategy,

the following documents may provide useful examples
of different approaches:

• University of Derby Technology-Enhanced Learning Strategy 2017-2021

• University of Greenwich Digital Strategy 2022-2030

• University of Leeds Digital Transformation Strategy 2020 - 2030

• University of Wales Trinity Saint David Digital Strategy 2021-2023

• University of Wolverhampton Digital Strategy to 2025

Further reading

• Brooks, D C and McCormack, M (2020) Driving digital transformation in higher education. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE.
Available at: https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/driving-digital-transformation-in-higher-
education/2020/introduction-and-key-findings

• EAB (2021) Digital transformation: foundational capabilities and high-impact investments to keep your campus
relevant in a digital era. Washington DC: EAB. Available at: https://eab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PDF-
ITF-Digital-Transformation-Brief.pdf

• EDUCAUSE (2022) Digital transformation is the future of higher education. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE. Available at:
https://dx.educause.edu

• Iosad, A (2020) Digital at the core: a 2030 strategy framework for university leaders. London: Emerge Education;
and Bristol: Jisc. Available at: https://repository.jisc.ac.uk/8133/1/2030-strategy-framework-for-university-
leaders.pdf
30 | References

References

• Dickinson, J (2022a) “What we know (and don’t know) about energy bills support for students”. WONK Corner,
12 October. Available at: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/what-we-know-and-dont-know-about-energy-bills-
support-for-students

• Dickinson, J (2022b) “Is there any actual policy behind the politics of in-person teaching?” WONK Corner, 4 May.
Available at: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/is-there-any-actual-policy-behind-the-politics-of-in-person-teaching

• Iosad, A (2020) Digital at the core: a 2030 strategy framework for university leaders. London: Emerge Education; and
Bristol: Jisc. Available at: https://repository.jisc.ac.uk/8133/1/2030-strategy-framework-for-university-leaders.pdf

• Jackson, J, Tangalakis, K, Hurley P and Solomonides, I (2022) Equity through complexity: inside the “black box” of
the Block Model. Bentley WA: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, Curtin University. Available
at: ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Jackson_VU_BlockModel_FINAL_2022_2.pdf

• Jisc (2022) Student digital experience insights survey 2021/22: UK higher education (HE) survey findings. Bristol:
Jisc. Available at: https://repository.jisc.ac.uk/8850/1/2022-07%20%28iDFltdP024.11%29%20DEI%20HE%20
%26%20FE%20Reports%202022%20%28HE%29%20v1-05.pdf

• Maguire, D, Dale, L and Pauli, M (2020) Learning and teaching reimagined: a new dawn for higher education?
Bristol: Jisc. Available at: https://repository.jisc.ac.uk/8150/1/learning-and-teaching-reimagined-a-new-dawn-for-
higher-education.pdf

• Office for Students (2020) “Digital poverty” risks leaving students behind. Bristol and London: Office for Students.
Available at: https://officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/digital-poverty-risks-
leaving-students-behind

• Reinitz, B (2020) “Consider the three Ds when talking about digital transformation”. EDUCAUSE Review, 1
June. Available at: https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/6/consider-the-three-ds-when-talking-about-digital-
transformation

• The Education Hub Media Officer (2022) “’Face-to-face teaching is a vital part of getting a high-quality student
experience’: Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi writes to students”. The Education Hub (blog), 17 January.
Available at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/01/17/face-to-face-teaching-is-a-vital-part-of-getting-a-high-
quality-student-experience-education-secretary-nadhim-zahawi-writes-to-students

• University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2022) Welcome to the DigiCentre: improve your digital skills. Carmarthen
and Lampeter: University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Available at: https://digitalskills.uwtsd.ac.uk

• Weill, P, Woerner, S L and Shah, A M (2021) “Does your C-suite have enough digital smarts?”, MIT Sloan
Management Review, 62 (3). Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/does-your-c-suite-have-enough-
digital-smarts

• White, D (2020) “The need for presence not ‘contact hours’”. David White (blog), 23 April. Available at: http://
daveowhite.com/presence
Supporting you

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powering UK higher education A collection of tools curated for leaders in higher
See how our higher education strategy for 2021-2024 education who are devising and implementing plans for
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Digital experience insights surveys provide powerful ji.sc/contact-relationship-manager
data on how your students and staff are using the
technology you offer, what is making a difference and
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