Interoperability

We expect EdTech plug and play… Don’t we?

The calls for have been ringing in my ears for nearly five decades.? Do you hear it too??

Just saw a post on EUNIS initiating a soft launch for a work group on Interoperability. EACEA_OEP - Higher Education Interoperability workgroup (europa.eu)

Been co-chairing the GDN (Groningen Declaration Network) Technology Interoperability Working Group since last year. https://www.groningendeclaration.org/technology-interoperability-working-group/

As current Chairman of the PESC (Postsecondary Electronics Standards Council) which has the Standards Forum governing the community developed specifications, I am an outspoken advocate promoting methods to foster greater interoperability. This is not a singular path. I do believe as an industry, we should all participate in developing a plug and play mindset spanning boundaries and disparent data systems across the education landscape - isolating and documenting the specific use cases of how applications could share data to improve accessibility, respect privacy and enhance user experiences.

Can you relate to this?

Imagine the experience of buying a car selecting the features and functions you desire.?Have you ever thought about ordering custom made rims and tires to be fitted instead of choosing the standard tires and rims offered?

Standard rims and tires are a great example of how plug and play when embedded in product design can work across competing makes and models delivering a more cost-effective proposition.?The preset sizes and alternatives adhere to specifications, yet offer variations of quality, useful life, materials and warranty.?

Are we there yet?

save time and money.??Does your institution seek real-time or batch interfaces following vendor neutral specifications developed by a community of like minded stakeholders?

Throughout my professional work experience, I have stressed investing in public initiatives employing community developed standards over the proprietary or custom one-off approaches.?I have a bias.?Yes, I believe interfaces and integrations should be given more priority. I also believe we can achieve greater efficiencies and groom new solutions working together - even as competitors as we seek to develop plug and play technologies.

Why?

According to Gartner research, over 50% of IT Capacities in Colleges and Universities are spent supplementing how platforms and applications provide custom interfaces and integration support between applications.?

What can we do differently to reduce this massive drag on the industry??

• We can place more emphasis on the requirements for plug and play across EdTech providers.
• We can choose to move away from proprietary methods, work with others to develop plug and play specifications.?
• We can submit ideas and desires for improvements when we meet and discuss what we all have in common.
• We can learn about 1EdTEch, PESC (Postsecondary Electronics Standards Council) and A4L (Access for Learning) communities.?Gain insights and connections.?
• We can join workgoups, user groups and task forces orchestrated by the standards setting communities.
• We can subscribe to Newsletters published by PESC, A4L and 1EdTech - to keep up with the community’s work. Members receive full access to workgroups, user groups and committees as they focus on specific use cases and what we all have in common.?
• We can explore deeper questions when evaluating EdTech. Is plug and play built-in??Move beyond the hype evangelizing technology.?
• We can ask EdTech providers address their commitment to the plug and play specifications and communities developing them. Are your EdTech vendors and providers leading the charge or are they dragging behind??
• We can promote requirements for standards-based interactions between EdTech applications governed by non-profit organizations like 1EdTech, PESC and A4L.
• We can connect with projects implementing plug and play, standards-based interfaces and integrations that improve user experiences by stressing principles of privacy, security, reuse, streamlined workflows, loosely coupled architecture and shared governance.

Want to learn more about plug and play applications across the EdTech landscape??Let’s have a conversation.

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