As the Smart Campus experiment emerges from the lab into the bright light of early adoption, this session explores how further maturing and scaling up & into the mainstream is critically dependent on close collaboration between Estates and IT. Place and space design are fast becoming dependent on digital capability to deliver the multi-purpose flexibility that is essential to improving utilisation, lowering the carbon footprint and meeting the expectations of students, staff, researchers and a wide variety of other campus users.

Cisco and PTS have already encountered a small number of shining examples not just of Smart Campus capability, but also of the Estates/IT collaborations that made them possible. The companies believe that enough Universities have experience to share, that now is a good time to bring a critical mass of practitioners together.

This session brings together a blend of individuals from Estates and Digital functions who are in positions where they can make and influence decisions and who can also speak to the details of successful experience of designing buildings and spaces with Digital as a key enabler. The aim is to identify and explore the successful and emerging practices that have delivered Smart Campus projects and have the potential to scale up for broader adoption. The workshop provides an opportunity to connect with your peers around a distinct and specific shared interest, build the community and share stories.

While this session primarily focuses on successful practice, it also recognises that “there is nothing so practical as a good theory” [thank you Kurt Lewin]. During and following the session, Cisco and PTS will distil the discussions and any references available into a short guide to capture the most re-usable ideas for wider application.

he initial workshop will be held in London on 14th June, between 10:30 and 16:00 at etc Venues, 50-52 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1HL. The form is designed to maximise the exchange and sharing between around 20-30 participants, 50/50 Estates/Digital. Expect small group working, topped by a whole group seeding and framing session and tailed by a group playback and reflections session.

Its aim is to consult with participants in advance of the workshop to develop the seed topics for discussion. Initial consultation suggests a variety of themes would be of interest such as:

Drivers and priorities for a Smart Campus: e.g. Sustainability, Student Experience, Space Management, Cost Reduction, Efficiencies, Hybrid Learning

Bringing consideration of digital much earlier into the place/space/facility design process to enable ‘art of the possible’ and iterate/value-engineer the designs

The shape of the team (Estates/Facilities and IT/Digital) and its Operating Model – processes and roles

Challenges and constraints on Smart Campus development: e.g. articulating benefits to senior & non- technical audience, cost/ROI/funding, lack of understanding/skills, integration, avoiding vendor lock-in, data management

Availability of Systems and Service Integration capabilities to integrate the many moving parts, including making sense of the supplier/partner landscape, different types of service providers, integrators, infrastructure providers and how they need to integrate

Please contact Ceri Williams (cewillia@cisco.com) or Mark Perrett (Mark.Perrett@pts.global) to register.