As Information Consumers, organisations in the education sector often rely on others to collect and provide access to the information they need. They may also be acting as info-mediaries — collating and re-purposing information from multiple sources on behalf of the end consumer. The absence of a common Architectural Framework creates a range of information-related problems for consumers. When the information is not fit for its intended purpose, this leads to rework and waste.
- Visible
- We want more information from other agencies and while we know it’s “out there somewhere”, we can’t find it. This has a direct impact on our dealings with our clients, because we are often working with out of date or incomplete information. We can end up collecting data again, that we know somebody else has already collected.
- Suitable
- Data that does not separate content from format, such as data delivered in Microsoft .doc format, creates a major problem for those trying to interpret and process it. Producers of information need to ensure it’s in a form that consumers can use. We need to develop and adopt sector-wide XML? applications and formats for data exchange.
- Guaranteed
- When carrying out a transaction with my customer that in turn relies on data provided to me by another agency, I need a guarantee from the provider that the completed transaction won’t be repudiated. This is part of a general requirement for service quality that includes availability, accuracy, discoverability, scalability, and usability.
- Fair
- I am asking the information producer to carry the cost of making information more valuable and usable, while I get the benefit. For this to work, I must in turn make my information holdings available to others with value added. This can lead to more cost-effective data access across the sector, but it requires everyone to adopt the principle of reciprocity.
- Reasonable
- I need to make sure I don’t impose unnecessary costs on those who provide information to me. I need to work in partnership with other consumers and information providers to ensure information is collected once and made available in a form suitable for all types of consumers. It’s in my interest to minimise the compliance burden on providers.
- Seamless
- There isn’t a high level, sector-wide view of information resources and flows across agencies. I can end up holding my own copies of information better sought from elsewhere when needed. The absence of a single student identifier used across the whole sector makes collation and analysis of information about individual students impractical.
- Compliant
- Where I have a licence to use the intellectual property of others, I need to be sure I comply with the terms and conditions of that licence. An individual agency can’t negotiate the same levels of discount that we can when we band together. Commercial database providers are continually seeking new revenue streams from their content and my budget is being squeezed.
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