JISC FSD Programme

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The JISC FSD programme aims to highlight the role of the current IT infrastructure in colleges and universities, the challenges faced by it and how effectively and efficiently it can be used. One high level technique suggested is to take the Enterprise Architecture approach to managing the processes, information and systems that make up such an infrastructure. A particular route within EA is to design and implement a Service Oriented Architecture, which can help senior managers in the HE/FE sectors to achieve a flexible and agile IT environment.

The FSD programme runs from the 1st July 2009 till 1st march 2011, and is part funded from two sources: the HEFCE/HEFCW capital funded programme to support IT infrastructure and JISC’s core budget. More information about the programme structure can be found at https://fsdsupport.pbworks.com/.

The FSD support and Synthesis is comprised of

· JISC-CETIS for technical development support

· JISC Info-Net for synthesis activity

· UCISA and ALT to liaise between the Strategic Technologies Group of the FSD and the wider community and supplier engagement

The first activity in the JISC FSD Programme is the establishment of the Strategic Steering Group (STG) that brings the representatives from different educational institutions; explore different flexible ways of providing academic and administrative services. The STG will have a first meeting on October 2nd in London. More details on the FSD programme, the STG and the meeting are available at https://fsdsupport.pbworks.com/STG-Meeting-Agenda-2-Oct-2009. A comprehensive, high level overview of the STG’S activities, drivers and benefits is provided by a JISC flyer on the topic.

Finally, JISC aims to act as an impartial facilitator by between the suppliers (open source applications providers of administrative and academic systems) and customers by running a series of workshops, maintaining good engagement with suppliers by discussing the barriers and possibilities for flexible and shared service provision, and identify and prioritise the requirements for solving them.