An introduction to JISC and its activities
Over six million people in the UK are served by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). They are students and staff in further and higher education institutions and the Research Councils.
JISC supports these groups of users through high quality initiatives and services, and by providing the expertise, independent advice, guidance and resources to promote the effective and innovative use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
More specifically, JISC provides:
- Access to high quality resources to support learning, teaching and research
- Advice on the creation and preservation of digital resources
- Information about the implications of using ICT including legal and organisational issues
- Front-line support for the further education sector through the Regional Support Centres (RSCs)
- Network services and support
- Development activities to bring about innovative solutions to fully exploit the potential of ICT
High quality resources
The popularity of the Internet is making the world's knowledge more easily accessible, creating 'lecture theatres without walls'. As computers are used more pervasively to manage content and information, so UK further and higher education is becoming more dependent upon them. The JISC meets this challenge by collecting, creating, procuring and delivering digital information to support learning, teaching and research. For further information, please see the JISC Collections website.
Creation and preservation of digital preservation
Digital content and information now forms a significant and growing part of the UK's cultural and intellectual heritage. Through its support and advisory services, JISC is helping in the creation of digital resources and the conversion of analogue materials to digital form. In addition, JISC recognises the urgent need to protect this material through succeeding generations of digital technology obsolescence. This needs to be pro-active and JISC is providing coordination and leadership for digital preservation activities and fostering collaboration between the FE, HE and research sectors.
JISC's Digital Preservation Focus has been central to the launch of the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), a grouping of some 19 organisations brought together to form a long-term strategy for the preservation of digital materials. See also: AHDS and TASI.
Implications of using ICT
The speed of change across the post-16 education sector is driven by the electronic revolution. Institutions riding the crest of change are propelled ahead, while those still seeking to embrace the new opportunities are being left behind in the wake of progress. In addition, the increasing legal requirements institutions are required to operate within mean that the advice and support they require needs to be up-to-date, practical and timely. With a vision for supporting institutions faced by these growing requirements, the JISC is developing a wider portfolio of community support services to help institutions meet these requirements. For further information, please go to: TechDis, JISC Legal and TechWatch.
Regional Support Centres
Thirteen Regional Support Centres (RSCs) were established in 1999 to help the FE community take full advantage of JISC's services. Their key aims include: to connect the FE sector with the JANET network; provide ongoing technical support and encourage the take-up of JISC services and ICT-enabled learning processes. RSCs organise a full programme of events, publish support materials and work closely with colleges to help promote the innovative use of ICT for the further education community.
The network
By continually embracing advances in technology JISC seeks to utilise new opportunities to improve access to a broadening range of information resources. Part of this strategy is to provide UK further and higher education with an innovative and stable information system today that is capable of delivering world-class services for tomorrow.
Development activities
In the move to support students more efficiently throughout a lifetime of learning, JISC is spearheading progress through various programmes of work. These will make the wealth of information and resources more accessible and will fully exploit the technical advances which are rapidly taking place. Achieving this vision requires a paradigm shift where the student and not the physical institution is the centre of focus. One solution is the Managed Learning Environment, a system that supports learning by bringing together and coordinating a range of different systems (such as Virtual Learning Environments) and processes (such as student registration). JISC is working closely with institutions to introduce MLEs and VLEs, and to support their management. In addition, a range of development projects are seeking to provide mechanisms which will enable individuals and institutions to access in rich and innovative ways the growing number of available online resources through a common information environment. These mechanisms include: resource discovery services which allow users to find high-quality services; fusion services which collect content from a variety of sources; shared services, such as user profiling, authentication and customisation services; and disclosure services that allow institutions to share information and resources. See more about our programmes and project activities.
Members of JISC and its committees are senior managers, academics and technology experts from across the education sector. This provides strong links with the community and ensures JISC remains responsive to the changing needs of FE and HE.
For further information, please contact: Philip Pothen