Having spent last week in Brussels, this week I was over in Belfast attending the EUNIS 25 Congress. I was supporting a workshop session on student mobility. as part of our work on NRENs for Education, or as I have been calling it internally E in NREN.

There were lots of interesting sessions, I think for me one of the challenges the sector faces, is that yes there are data and technical issues that need resolving, but there are only part of the solution. Some of the real challenges is rethinking the operating model and making those cultural process changes required to take advantage of the work being undertaken with standards and data.

Spent some time preparing for events and meetings I am attending in Brighton at TNC25.

The Universities UK Transformation and Efficiency Taskforce have published their first report, Towards a new era of collaboration.

Universities UK’s (UUK) transformation and efficiency taskforce was established in response to significant financial pressure on the higher education sector in all four nations of the UK. Our aim is to tackle the challenges we collectively face, to support the efforts of individual universities to achieve greater efficiency, and to seek opportunities for collective action to help our universities go further and faster than they can alone. This report is the first of three outputs from the taskforce, and together these mark Phase 1 of a long-term commitment to embark on a new era of collaboration.

I have been working on phase two of the work, though not sure if there will be a similar public facing publication.

As with much of the communication about collaboration, the challenges facing the sector, means the real challenge for many universities will be taking that first step towards collaboration. What and where should a university collaborate and with whom.

WonkHE had this perspective on the publication.

The case for university collaboration in the UK has been made with increasing frequency as the financial squeeze starts to make itself felt in profound ways. That said, there has been little tangible activity – the report points to longstanding structures such as the University of London federation, existing networks of research collaborations, and strategic working with local stakeholders. The taskforce adds the multi-academy trust-esque group structures employed by the (HE and FE) University of the Highlands and (cross sector) London South Bank to the list., and there is a nod to the world of sharing expensive research infrastructure too.

Interesting blog from the Competition and Markets Authority

Our universities are one of the UK’s greatest success stories – they produce world-class research, drive innovation across the economy and remain critical to equipping people with the skills they need to get on in life. Skills are, of course, crucial to economic growth and a successful industrial strategy, both of which we support. However, we know that many higher education providers are facing very challenging financial situations and that greater collaboration between universities could help support the sector. This is where competition law – and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – can play a role. While some collaborations are more problematic under competition law, there are many areas where they are beneficial and pose no competition law risks. We can also support collaborations that benefit the UK by making clear that we won’t prioritise enforcement.