Last week I attended my first XCRI programme meeting with Leo (PM) and Matt (dev). As a new recruit to the team I’ve heard a lot about the project and the institutional value it promised, so I was looking forward to seeing the bigger picture.

After frantically swatting up on the JISC project aims during the journey we arrived at the conference centre, where I was surprised by the quantity and variety of HE providers represented.

While grabbing a coffee we had the opportunity to mull over the project posters, which gave me a great insight into the plethora of deliverables and the extent of technology and resources invested. One resounding theme from the posters was that it had been one hell of a journey! This message resurfaced throughout the day, as people spoke of institutional challenges and limitations, with many confessing if they had been visible at the beginning of the project they would have questioned their participation.

The day consisted of seminars where participants demoed their projects utilising the XCRI-CAP feed, or talked about the approach they had taken.

One thing that became apparent was the strong sense of community that filled the room. Individuals felt united by their struggles and limitations, yet empowered by their ability to improve course data workflow, for the greater good of their institution and the HE sector.

I left Birmingham feeling elated and hoping that the institutional collaboration nurtured by the XCRI-CAP project was just the beginning of a great transformation in the HE sector.