The World of Work - Business and Community Engagement

Introduction

The funding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland aim to increase the impact of HE and FE knowledge and expertise to enhance economic development and the strength and vitality of society. This is achieved by supporting institutions’ developing knowledge transfer and exchange activities and their strategic engagement with business and community partners. This area is also known as work based learning, work related learning, employer-led learning amongst many other terms. It has also been referred to as ‘third stream’ (‘third mission’ in Wales) because it is regarded as supporting the third element of an HEI’s mission alongside teaching and research, so has attracted a 'third stream' of funding.
The overall aim is to enhance institutions’ efficiency, effectiveness and opportunities in BCE activities and improve access to institutions’ knowledge and expertise for business and community organisations. Business and Community Engagement encompasses four institutional strategic areas:

• knowledge transfer;
• employer engagement;
• public engagement;
• lifelong learning.

JISC TechDis has undertaken a project to review university and college engagement with small and medium sized companies (SMEs) regarding their business use of technology. This forms part of the JISC Business and Community Engagement (BCE) programme, designed to support institutions in their strategic relationships with commercial, public and civic organisations.

The following reports were commissioned by JISC TechDis.

JISC BCE SME e-Empowerment Project - Phase 1 Scoping and Mapping (Executive Summary) ( - 855 KB)
This survey report by Sero Consulting highlights examples across a range of institutional engagement with SMEs on the e-empowerment agenda or on activities that feed into it and draws conclusions and recommendations about how JISC can provide better support to institutions.

JISC BCE SME e-Empowerment Project - Phase 1 Scoping and Mapping (full report) (MS Word - 1098 KB)
This executive summary by Sero Consulting examines the range of institutional engagement with SMEs on the e-empowerment agenda or on activities that feed into it and draws conclusions and recommendations about how JISC can provide better support to institutions.

Through this e-Empowerment Project, managed by JISC TechDis, the aim is to support the institutional offer to organisations who wish to capitalise on web technologies. The next stage of the project involves compiling a toolkit of freely available resources that institutions can use in their work with SMEs.

Download the latest e-shot about the e-Empowerment Project (MS Word - 155 KB) or for further information please contact; sme@techdis.ac.uk

We know that many universities and colleges are already working with SMEs and 'start-ups' to deliver training, provide business support and understake knowledge transfer/exchange. There are wide variations in the use of web technologies by SMEs, and differing views among the SME sector as to their value, and there is a role of HE and FE institutions in making SMEs aware of the benefits and opportunities of engaging with these technologies. Key areas of the project include institutions supporting SMEs in the economic downturn and the importance of creative and cultural industries.

JISC and the Advisory Services involvement with BCE Projects

The six Advisory Services are involved in a number of BCE Projects and other work-related projects. The JISC and Advisory Services BCE page provides further information on the various projects that JISC and it's Advisory Services are involved in.

Resources

JISC TechDis have a series of resources that are useful for practitioners working within work-related learning/work-based learning/BCE. You can find further information about them from the following link - JISC TechDis BCE related resources.

Case Studies

Many of these case studies come from a wide range of sectors including Higher Education, Further Education and Independent Specialist Colleges. Although not specifically from the Business and Community Engagement sector, many of these examples work cross-sector, and are very relevant to individuals within BCE/Work-related/Work-based learning. JISC TechDis BCE related Case Studies

Other Relevant Organisations

AURIL is the professional association representing all practitioners involved in knowledge creation, development and exchange in the UK. The site contains a number of resources relating to Business and Community Engagement.