The Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher and Further Education Councils (JISC) has announced that it is to become a limited company on 1st August 2012. This is part of the implementation of the recommendations from the Wilson review of JISC. Currently the JISC is not a legal entity but still just a committee with all employment or other contracts arranged either through HEFCE or the universities of Bristol and KCL that host JISC offices. The operational difficulties of this arrangement had previously led to establishing limited companies for parts of JISC operations such as JISC Collections, so the change is a logical progression.
Probably the sector’s greatest interest in the implementation of the Wilson Review though will be the JISC budget going forward and its allocation across its future activities. JISC funds a wide-range of shared services and innovation projects across UK universities. News on this is still to emerge.