Collaboration for a sustainable future

The higher education and research sectors in the UK are currently facing several challenges that threaten the sustainability of many institutions, with as many as 40% facing budget deficits. To address these issues, a shift towards deeper and more systematic approaches to collaboration is essential.

Commissioned by Jisc and produced in partnership with KPMG in the UK, Collaboration for a sustainable future outlines how institutions can leverage digital, data and technology collaboratively to unlock efficiencies, reduce costs and contribute to a stable, sustainable future.

Building on our role as a provider of critical infrastructure and shared efficiencies, this report incorporates insights from leaders across 19 institutions, along with key perspectives from UCISA and their trustees. It highlights the importance of trust, governance, senior leadership support and, most importantly, a shift towards a collective mindset for problem-solving.

Key themes and opportunities for collaboration

The report identifies five key areas where collaboration can bring significant benefits. These areas allow institutions to work together without losing their unique strengths, instead boosting shared success:

1. Central coordination and standards: Establishing common models, standard definitions and driving consistency across the sector.
2. Skills development in digital, data and technology (DDaT): Developing the necessary digital, data and technological skills on both an operational and cultural level.
3. Shared procurement and system management: Implementing and managing applications with potential across most systems supporting teaching, learning, research and professional services.
4. Shared services: Reducing costs, streamlining operations and reducing bureaucracy more widely.
5. Co-building sector-specific technology: Utilising standardisation processes to build systems for the sector’s needs or leveraging existing technologies by working with providers to develop innovative solutions.

Next steps

To drive these efforts forward, institutions are encouraged to explore their stance on collaboration and identify their potential roles in supporting greater collaboration.

The report calls on leading bodies in the sector, including Jisc, to:

• Convene ‘coalitions of the willing’ from across the sector, initially focusing on areas where institutions have already established collaborative approaches.
• Coordinate a consistent message from the sector to the government.

Conduct a feasibility study and develop a detailed business case that outlines priority opportunities for collaboration, assesses the costs of maintaining the current sub-optimal status quo, and moves toward more effective strategies.