Beyond the Technology: The education 4.0 podcast

As global markets report a cloud computing boom, Jisc is preparing to announce the results of this year's studies into how this kind of virtual computing can support research. It's just one of the topics on the agenda for the Jisc/CNI conference in Edinburgh this week which explores strategies, technologies and infrastructure to manage research and teaching data in a fast changing environment. Ahead of his conference session tomorrow, Professor Greg Jackson, vice president of policy and analysis at EDUCAUSE, shares his views with Nicola Yeeles from Jisc on what the UK can learn from the USA about cloud, and why experts in the States are also looking across the Atlantic for solutions.

Researchers in different locations can now work online together and collaborate with access to all kinds of resources, through what is known as a virtual research environment (VRE). Last week, in the spirit of international co-operation, a workshop on VRE's was run by the Knowledge Exchange, a partnership of four national organisations for technology in higher education which includes Jisc from the UK alongside ICT bodies from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Delegates from around the world attended the Rotterdam workshop to gain an overview of the current state of affairs for VRE's, draw conclusions from the firsthand experience of the delegates, and share ideas for future cooperation on practical as well as strategic levels. We asked some delegates what their backgrounds were in the area of VRE's, what they were looking forward to learning and what they had already learnt from the workshop.

As the financial situation that universities face looks increasingly likely to be difficult, collaboration is becoming crucial as a way of improving effectiveness and efficiency. At this week's Jisc sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing Professor Sir Tim O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of Jisc, and Carl Lygo, Principal of BPP Law School and CEO of BPP Holdings, presented public and private models of sharing services and streamlining processes. In this podcast Jisc's Maike Bohn spoke with both Carl and Tim to highlight the main points from the seminar.

With challenging times ahead for the UK's higher education sector, the role of business and industry in higher education moves to centre stage in the debates about funding, international competitiveness and employment. This week's Jisc sponsored HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) Westminster breakfast briefing saw a passionate discussion between Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of Centrica, and Chair of the CBI Higher Education Task Force, and Professor Tim Wilson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire, to explore why and how business should engage more with universities, both financially and intellectually.

The Blue Ribbon Task Force is an international group that has been looking at the current situation of preserving and accessing digital information not only in the UK but also in the US. Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien caught up with Chris Rusbridge, director of the Jisc-funded Digital Curation Centre, who has been part of the taskforce, on why it is important to preserve digital information within the UK and what needs to be done in the future to organise research data.

Bill St. Arnaud is the President of a Green-IT consulting firm St. Arnaud-Walker and Associates Inc. He was formerly the Chief Research Officer for CANARIE Inc.2 Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organisation and he is one of the keynote speakers for Jisc's 2010 Annual Conference which takes place on the 12th and 13th April in London. In this podcast via Skype with Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien, Bill shares what he will be talking about in his speech and his thoughts on the importance of greening technology for colleges and universities.

At the recent Higher Education Policy Institute and Jisc seminar Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive of Universities UK, and Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics, gave their views on the topic of the financing of higher education as a starting point to generate discussion and debate with an invited audience. Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien spoke with both Nicholas and Nicola about how higher education is currently funded, how the current system could be changed in response to the increasing pressure on universities to reduce costs and the value that universities contribute to the UK economy.

A new report published by Jisc highlights the cost benefits, impact on society and the benefits to researchers as well as their universities in distributing their research through open access routes. For the first time, universities will have the evidence to be able to build their own business case for adopting an open access policy. In this podcast Jisc's Clare Groom talks via Skype with Alma Swan, author of the report, and Neil Jacobs, programme manager for Jisc's open access work, about the report's findings and its implications for universities, researchers and publishers.

Web 2.0 applications are making it easier for librarians to share their library catalogue records for re-use, but this comes with a new raft of legal and contractual issues. Jisc has just published guidance for librarians to help them navigate these challenges, so Jisc's Nicola Yeeles spoke to Curtis and Cartwright's Claire Davies and Max Hammond, who carried out the research for the guidance, to find out what librarians should be looking out for.

HEPI, the Higher Education Policy Institute is the UK's only independent think tank devoted exclusively to higher education and runs a series of policy seminars to improve higher education in the UK by creating a better informed policy environment. This year's seminar series is being organised jointly with Jisc, and Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien speaks with Bahram Bekhradnia director of HEPI to talk through the topics which are raising concern among higher education leaders.

For new students, December saw the end of their first academic term within further education and many colleges and universities will now be trying to predict which students will not be returning this January. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to Lawrie Phipps, one of Jisc's programme managers, to find out what Jisc is doing to help improve student retention and motivation.

TechWatch is launching a new report called Low Carbon Computing which looks at how UK colleges and universities can reduce their carbon emissions to meet government targets. In this podcast interview Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien is joined by Gaynor Backhouse, director of TechWatch and co-author of the report.

With Jisc's Innovating e-Learning 'online conference' fast approaching, the phrase may conjure up images of faceless avatars communicating over complicated web technology. In this podcast Nicola Yeeles speaks to the guest blogger at the conference, James Clay of Gloucestershire College, and finds that the online conference is much more accessible than that, as well as getting some top tips on how delegates can get the most out of the event.

In 2008 John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills launched a consultation called the Higher Education Debate, to seek expert thinking, fresh ideas and comments on the future of higher education for the next ten to fifteen years. Today, the new HE Framework - Higher Ambitions was launched by David Lammy (Minister of State for Higher Education) and in this podcast interview with Jisc's Rebecca O'Brien, he explains the Government's vision of the future for UK higher education and shares his thoughts on the future of learning, teaching and research.

In this podcast Professor David Baker, Deputy Chair of Jisc and Chair of Jisc's Chairs' Committee, talks with Nicola Yeeles about Jisc and his aspirations for the Chairs' Committee's work.