From left to right: Deborah (Jisc), Tamsyn, Martin, Siobhan, and Dan (Jisc)
Jisc’s Digifest25 brought together educators, innovators, and digital leaders for two days of inspiring discussions, collaboration, and future-focused thinking. In this blog, members of the Digital Leadership and Culture team reflect on the moments that made this year’s Digifest the best yet.
Deborah Baff
Jisc Digifest25 in Birmingham on March 11th and 12th was fabulous! I’ve been to quite a few Digifests over the years, and in my opinion, this was the best yet! We had a busy first day but all of our sessions, including the panel discussion and community meet-up, went really well. Our amazing panel even rocked the additional podcast that we threw at them. They were such stars!
Deborah asking the questions at the Where Today Meets Tomorrow panel session
I loved all the keynotes, especially Paul Iske’s talk on “Failing Brilliantly” – it was super inspiring! The buzz throughout the event was energising.
Paul Iske presenting his Keynote on Failing Brilliantly
It was great catching up with everyone. The food was lovely and the exhibition space worked perfectly. I had some great chats with folks from Open Athens, Eduroam, Kaltura, Explorance and Verbit (and I managed to snaffle a teddy bear for my collection!). Plus, I had fun printing a customized AI chocolate wrapper with Adobe – hot pink with fluffy cats, of course!
Dan Hughes
For me there were three main highlights:
It was great to hear from digital leaders who have completed the Digital leaders programme about how they are implementing the programme and meeting tomorrow both in the panel discussion and the live podcast recording.
Beyond the Technology podcast host Iwan Lehnert in conversation with Martin, Tamsyn, and Siobhan, alumni of the Digital Leaders Programme.
I also really enjoyed catching up with people I’ve met through the work of our programme and hearing about the difference they are making in their organisations. It’s always helpful to hear from people about what digital leadership looks like in practice as well as noting the common challenges and trends that people are experiencing.
Finally, I found attending the workshop “Strategic foresight: how might we prepare for the unknown” facilitated by Dom Fripp and Gül Akcaova the most stimulating as we considered the Future Triangle and the weights, pushes, and pulls that we are experiencing with regards to digital transformation in the sector.
Glyn Rogers
A highlight for me was the growing number of voices in the Wales Community Hub session. The collaborative spirit in Wales is something I deeply valued during my time in Further Education, and it was on full display. This spirit is exemplified by Tibi Dancovici from Coleg y Cymoedd, one of this year’s Community Champions. Huge congratulations to him on this well-deserved recognition for his advocacy in Jisc’s Wales AI community.
Rhys Daniels, Director Jisc Wales, in conversation at the Jisc Wales Community hub session.
Another standout moment was watching my colleagues, Dan Hughes and Deborah Baff, take to the main stage to host a panel session called Where Today Meets Tomorrow. They led a fantastic discussion with inspiring alumni from Jisc’s Digital Leaders programme- Siobhan, Tamsyn, and Martyn. I can’t wait for next year!
