Joint Information Systems Committee
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| Formation | 1 April 1993 |
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| Type | not-for-profit company |
| Purpose | To enable people in higher education, further education and skills in the UK to perform at the forefront of international practice by exploiting fully the possibilities of modern digital empowerment, content and connectivity |
| Headquarters | Bristol |
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Region served
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United Kingdom |
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Chief executive
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Dr Paul Feldman |
| Website | www |
Jisc (formerly the Joint Information Systems Committee) is a United Kingdom not-for-profit company whose role is to support post-16 and higher education, and research, by providing relevant and useful advice, digital resources and network and technology services, while researching and developing new technologies and ways of working. It is funded by a combination of the UK further and higher education funding bodies, and individual higher education institutions.
Jisc provide services in three core areas:
The UK's academic network, Janet, is provided by Jisc.
Jisc was established on 1 April 1993 under the terms of letters of guidance from the Secretaries of State to the newly established Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales, inviting them to establish a Joint Committee to deal with networking and specialist information services. JISC was to provide national vision and leadership for the benefit of the entire Higher Education sector. The organisation inherited the functions of the Information Systems Committee (ISC) and the Computer Board, which had served universities. An initial challenge was to support a much larger community of institutions, including the ex-polytechnics and higher education colleges.
Four sub-committees initially supporting the JISC committee: their remits covered Networking; Awareness, Liaison and Training; Electronic Information and Technology Applications activities.
In 1995, the Northern Ireland Department of Education became a full partner in JISC. The organisation expanded again in 1999 when the further education funding bodies became funding partners. This expansion prompted a restructuring and a new set of committees:
The expansion also raised wider concerns about JISC's governance, and Professor Sir Brian Follett was appointed to carry out an independent enquiry. His report, published in November 2000, concluded that "JISC is perceived as a UK success story, providing a network of world-class standard and a range of excellent services. Importantly, it evolves continuously and is an excellent example of collaboration between the community and the funding bodies". However, Follett made various recommendations for reform, most of which were accepted by the funding bodies.
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