Digital transformation and data

Data  science

The University is home to leading expertise in data  science. We are the only Scottish member of the Alan Turing Institute,  a five-university UK partnership enabling insights from large-scale data  to be used for commercial purposes and  to inform policy and practice in tackling  environmental, health and other global  challenges.

We manage the leading UK supercomputer, ARCHER, and its associated Research Data Facility. We host national institutes including the Farr Institute and the Administrative Data Research Network. Our interdisciplinary Data Technology Institute will be a hub for our data  science activity and our academic, public sector  and industry co-developers.

Expertise and engagement

Meaningful, intelligent data  use is core to our research and vital if we are to lead the world in the growing areas of study where data  and computation are changing analysis and discovery, from psychology to architecture to physics. In a future where data-intensive methods are essential to understanding the world, insight based on vast amounts of data  will make humanity safer, healthier and more productive. Our data  science expertise  will underpin  the multiple ways that we will transform our engagement with industry.

To deliver  this we will:

• change our students’ way of viewing the world, developing their mindset  and providing them with the tools to succeed in a digital future;
• support  researchers in extracting value from data  and making key data  accessible for research by investing in infrastructure and data  assets, developed collaboratively and for the common good;
• promote  innovation and best  practice  in the use and analysis of data;
• share  physical and virtual spaces with global and local industry partners to ensure our expertise  in data  science reaches beyond  our walls.

Digital transformation

We will ensure that we drive a culture  of evidence and  predictive decision-making within our own practices.

We will drive digital transformation in our way of working.

Our students and staff need the skills to ensure that they can thrive in a data-rich environment,  using quantitative  methods to inform decisions. Our teaching will embrace the availability of data  and the technologies that support and use it. Our information systems, our data assets and the support we provide our staff and students will keep us at the leading  edge of this data-driven revolution.

Quick to adapt

We need  to ensure that we thrive in the digital economy and ensure all areas of the University can operate seamlessly in the digital world. We must be ready to adapt quickly to disruptive competition  and technologies.

To make this happen we will:

• offer a digital education experience including online programmes that widen access to an Edinburgh  education beyond  the city;
• invest in systems that make it easy for our staff to use and share  all the information we create, driving efficiencies, enhancing the student experience, identifying new research opportunities, and operating our estate effectively;
• deepen our connections in the hyper-connected digital world;
• drive towards  a digital culture that will culminate  in a university where:
  • every core service is fully digital;
  • every educator is a digital educator;
  • every student is a digital student;
  • every decision  is made from accessible, comprehensively based  evidence and knowledge;
  • every student and staff member is constantly  updating their digital skills;
  • we have moved  from wondering what the future might hold to predicting  the future.