Registration and networking

Speaker: Heidi Fraser-Krauss, CEO, JiscHeidi Fraser-Krauss welcomes you to Data Matters 2025!

Welcome to Data Matters 2025

Speakers:<ul><li>Rob Phillpotts, chief data officer, Jisc</li><li>Phil Richards, chief technology officer - data, Jisc</li></ul>We note how data and data management as a top-level strategic discipline, distinct from technology, is at the top of the university and college agenda in the US. We reflect further on the key strategic role of chief data officer and the direction of travel in the UK.We give the specific example of Jisc’s own data strategy, arising from HESA’s merger with Jisc in October 2022. We examine the three sections of the strategy: statutory data functions, data products and services, and internal data foundations, and give examples of key early successes.Then, looking ahead, we discuss the importance of improving sector efficiency and effectiveness in the current financial climate via new shared services and other means. We see that data and consistent data practice is key. We reflect that the sector as a whole is on a journey here, and the data community – as reflected at this event – needs now to come together and collaborate to deliver the required benefits.

Data Strategy: the key to effective data

Speaker: Professor Edward Peck, Nottingham Trent University vice-chancellor & Higher Education student support champion In his role as the Higher Education Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck has engaged with universities and colleges, sector agencies, students, and parents to discuss and share challenges, opportunities and good practice on approaches to student support. In this keynote, Edward will discuss data-informed mechanisms to support students to thrive in their studies and ensure they can access appropriate support. This includes:
<ul><li> Student analytics: using data to predict as well as report on student engagement and wellbeing for earlier intervention</li><li> Student ‘life cycle’: changing needs of school and college learners and improving HE transition activities</li><li> Student support re-design: delivering a comprehensive, coherent and evidence-based system of support</li></ul>

Data-informed approaches to student support

Morning break

Speaker: Scotty Dixon, product manager - business intelligence, Jisc Making data-informed decisions is vital if the sector is to maximise its value to and achieve the best outcomes for students. Join Scotty for an overview of one of Jisc's advanced business intelligence dashboards - discover progression: undergraduate to postgraduate - to see how HESA data can be leveraged using a unique student linking methodology in a data visualisation dashboard co-created with strategic planners. This session will be of particular interest to those working in postgraduate recruitment, postgraduate portfolio design or strategic planning. If you have an interest in data visualisation and storytelling, this session is also for you.

Leveraging HESA data to track students from undergraduate to postgraduate study across the UK

Speakers:<ul><li> James Hodgkin, head of analytics, Jisc</li><li>Jim Keane, data engineering solutions manager and senior technical consultant, Jisc</li><li>Dr James Newham, associate professor, Northumbria University</li></</ul> Hear how the Office for Students (OfS) mental health analytics project provided a step-change in student support and how the lessons learned can be applied across the Higher Education sector.

Using analytics to support student wellbeing: an evaluation

Speakers:<ul><li>Alice Redfearn, director - data collections products, Jisc</li><li>Victoria Atherstone, innovation consultant, Jisc</li></ul>Explore the value of estates data to support strategic planning and real-time building performance management for a more sustainable future. You will find out how Jisc’s smart buildings and IoT analytics innovation aims to support organisational challenges including:<ul><li>Sustainability goals</li><li>Student wellbeing</li><li>Energy and resource efficiencies</li><li>Space utilisation and optimisation</li><li>Asset management</li></ul>

Using data to build a 'Smart Campus'

Speaker: Chris Sumner, head of MIS, South Lanarkshire CollegeThis session will cover:<ul><li>The role of data in modern education - importance of data in decision-making</li><li>Data collection methods - tools and technologies used for data collection (student performance, attendance, feedback, etc)</li><li>Data analysis and insights - methods of data analysis and key insights derived from the data</li><li>Implementing changes based on data - specific changes made in college operations and examples of successful data-driven initiatives</li><li>Challenges and solutions - strategies for managing common challenges faced in data implementation</li><li>Future directions - upcoming data-driven projects and long-term vision for data usage in the college</li></ul>

Empowering change - the impact of data on our college's workflow

Lunch break

Speaker: Felicity Bingham, senior business intelligence consultant, JiscThe data maturity framework is built to guide you and colleagues on your data journey, from setting the foundations to embedding a data strategy in your organisation.

In this session we will show you how to navigate the framework, exploring the overarching themes that condense years of best practice across the sector and demonstrate how it can be applied to your organisation.

Jisc Data Maturity Framework: your data journey companion

Speakers:<ul><li> Dan Hughes, digital leadership and culture programme lead, Jisc</li><li>Michelle Scott, training and development executive, The Data Lab</li></ul>Further and higher education leaders have an increasing amount of data available to them but not all of it is good data and the good data isn’t always easy to access, which can lead them to disengage. Join Michelle and Dan as they outline how to engage your organisation’s leaders and managers with data.

Building a data-informed organisation - successfully engaging other leaders

Speakers:<ul><li> James Hodgkin, head of analytics, Jisc</li><li> 
Jim Keane, data engineering solutions manager and senior technical consultant, Jisc</li></ul> Learn more about Jisc learning analytics. From its origins as a HE sector co-design project, through the current redevelopment and into an exciting future. Find out how this service remains central to Jisc and how it can benefit your institution.

Jisc learning analytics: past, present and future

Speaker: Monica Jones, chief data officer, University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds has successfully leveraged data for its digital transformation, improving efficiency and support for its staff and students.
 
Monica Jones, chief data officer, University of Leeds, presents her data strategy and transformation programme, highlighting the challenges, successes and learning from failure. Setting out their journey to data maturity, Monica will talk about engagement of key stakeholders in the process and provide practical advice for universities to support their digital transformation efforts using data.

A roadmap to data maturity: life lessons from University of Leeds

Speaker: Janet Ilieva, founder and director at Education InsightInternational students play a vital role in the UK's higher education system, both financially and in terms of soft power.This analysis is undertaken with Jisc, and it aims to enhance our understanding of the global student flows and their impact on UK HE. It draws on the following emerging themes:
<ul><li>Two decades of student mobility and mid-term forecasts reflecting a shift away from countries with high stability towards more uncertain markets</li>
<li>International students' entry routes into and subsequent trajectory through UK HE, including progression to further study, illustrating the unique power of HESA data</li>
<li>Tuition fee pricing trends, yielding a better understanding of fee discounts based on available data</li>
</ul>
Janet will conclude by updating on the quantitative analysis of our sector’s contribution to the world's executive power, eg recipients of prestigious scholarships, Nobel prizes, government officials, ambassadors, heads of state, etc.

International student mobility: shifts, trends and insights

Speakers: <ul><li>Charlie Ball, head of labour market intelligence, Jisc</li><li>Samantha Ayling, data consultant, Jisc</li> This is a session looking at how Jisc uses Graduate Outcomes data alongside other sources to get a broader view of the UK's skilled labour market and examine how students and institutions can be supported in their aims of helping the sector help the UK's economic and social fabric.

More than metrics: Graduate Outcomes and occupational supply and demand

Speakers: <ul><li>Kirsty Steed, research manager, Newcastle University</li><li>Meaghan Banham, head of student engagement and communications, Leeds Trinity University</li><li>Becka Colley-Foster, head of careers and graduate employability, Edge Hill University</li> In this session we will hear about how data is being used across a variety of roles in HE and FE, the benefits it brings and the challenges of using it well. The speakers cover diverse roles such as research management, student engagement and employability & enterprise.

A day in the life of tertiary education data

Afternoon break

Speaker: Dan Cook, director - data policy and research, Jisc Explore the UK's authoritative and internationally respected data on Knowledge Exchange - the Higher Education - Business and Community Interactions survey (HE-BCI). We will look at how the HE-BCI data is used to support policy and funding, focusing on: 
<ul><li>Why you should care about data quality in your own HE-BCI data</li>
<li>How HE-BCI data contributes to policymaking for the HE sector</li>
<li>New data on spin-out companies coming in 2025 and future HE-BCI improvements</li></ul>

Measuring engagement in business and the community

Speaker: Michael Webb, director of technology and analytics, JiscWe know data is key to making the most of AI, but what does that actually mean in practice? What processes and strategies do we need in place to maximise AI's potential? The rise of generative AI is transforming our understanding of data. Traditionally, we've perhaps focused on numeric data and that’s still vitally important, but in the world of generative AI, our perspective must broaden. Almost anything that can be digitised—images, documents, sound, video—becomes valuable data. How must our processes and governance evolve to accommodate this shift? And, crucially, what can universities and colleges achieve if we embrace these changes and get it right?

Data: the lifeblood of AI

Speaker: Heidi Fraser-Krauss, CEO, JiscHeidi Fraser-Krauss shares closing thoughts of Data Matters 2025.

Closing thoughts

Networking drinks reception

Data Matters 2025

About Data Matters 2025

Data Matters 2025 programme

This year's exciting 'pick and mix' style programme celebrated best practice and offered key insights and practical takeaways, all delivered by inspiring thought leaders, industry experts and speakers.