John Gohsman, vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer
Today universities and colleges have lot of information but can’t use it effectively to drive business. Data is both difficult to access and needed by more applications. How do we examine the effective and proactive use of data— how to consolidate, integrate and use it to drive business?
Visit and school or department at any higher education institution and you’re sure to find mounds of organized and unorganized data on topics ranging from student retention to faculty productivity to staff salaries. Schools and departments have often collected, stored and used this data in silos, preventing them and others from leveraging the benefits of a more integrated data platform. We would see gaps in their data collection efforts leading to long lead times to answer even basic questions.
As predictive analytics become more critical to administration as well as insight and analysis for decision-making, institutions are looking for ways to effectively capture and use the data they have to drive business outcomes. In this fact-changing world of data-driven analysis, many higher ed CIOs are challenged with defining ways to consolidate, integrate and use data proactively to drive business outcomes.
Read the full piece in Education Technology Insights.