Higher education is sometimes seen as a staid and conservative world where stuffy academics, researchers in lab coats and dreamy students wander around asking deep questions and studying esoteric problems. But that is a long way from reality. Universities face many of the same technical challenges as other organisations, often at a much larger scale.
Universities are highly complex environments. Their effective operation requires the secure and efficient interaction between dozens of systems operating on multiple platforms ranging from modern cloud-based system through to legacy infrastructure. Students, academics and administrators rely on administration systems, applications for creating and presenting subject outlines, timetables and curriculum information, the availability of facilities and last-minute changes that can be delivered through mobile apps.
That complexity is multiplied by the highly distributed users with students located internationally, in classrooms and lecture halls. Academic staff may be teaching and working from remote locations. And the expectations of all stakeholders are changing.
The integration of systems is critical for optimising the user experience of all stakeholders. When a student arrives at a university, they check their smartphone app and are informed of changed class location and provided with map directing them to new location. At various times of the year, they can enter subject preferences and be alerted if choices don’t meet degree requirements. Timetables can be created that also allow for student travel time from home.
Academic staff can share research with colleagues in the next building or anywhere in the world securely and without fear of their hard work being leaked.
Achieving this level of system integration requires strategic stitching of systems. Students, academics and researchers will choose the places they study and work based on the experience they expect. Just as the banking sector has learned that customers will leave if they are dissatisfied with their customer experience, universities must understand that being able to integrate data from disparate systems to produce a superior experience is a strategic differentiator.
Students expect a new experience that differs substantially from a traditional university. The lines between the physical and digital worlds are blurred as students demand an experience that integrates data, systems and APIs.
Student in class can listen to a lecture with Gen AI creating a live summary while the lecturer’s presentation materials are automatically downloaded to student’s tablet. Virtual reality can show live demonstrations that illustrate what the teacher is presenting. But this can only work if systems are strategically stitched together using tools that enable new information to be easily integrated.
For this to work, universities need an integration platform that connects data and systems through APIs and a generative AI layer that enables users to create prompts to pull the data in. These challenges and use-cases are not unique to higher education. Every business sector faces the same challenges. Answering complex questions and solving difficult problems requires access to data from different sources that can be integrated and easily queried.
Students no longer choose where they study based on just courses offered. They seek places where the experience they have as customers are better than others. Being able to deliver this faster, better and cheaper gives universities a strategic advantage over their competitors.
Connecting these systems has traditionally been a technical challenge that only tangentially included users. But things are changing.
Low code/no code tools have emerged that have enabled business users to create their own integrations. While these have simplified integration, they can be quite costly and have not delivered the experiences users demand and want. The arrival of Generative AI has created new opportunities.
Generative Integration leverages Generative AI to enable the creation of integrations between systems. It enables users to write prompts that leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) to write the code required to connect data from disparate systems. This simplifies the creation of integrations and helps to drive the human cost of integration towards zero.
The higher education sector is increasingly competitive. Universities that can deliver superior experiences to students, teachers and researchers will be able to attract to best talent. Just as private sector organisations can win in commercial markets by offering better customer experiences than their competition, so can universities. Integrating data from different systems to create applications enables students to enjoy an amazing learning experience.
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