In the second article of this two-part series, Jeremiah unpacks the transformative impact of digital technologies on the Australian education sector, highlighting the potential of Generative Integration in unlocking agility, innovation, and insights in the future of education.
The Australian education sector’s shift to digital has completely transformed the traditional learning landscape, ushering in a new era of dynamic and technologically enhanced educational experiences. From online learning platforms to digital assessments and the use of AI and VR for personalized learning experiences, technology is helping to reduce geographical barriers and foster more flexible and inclusive learning environments.
However, there’s still more to be done. Research indicates that only a third of students report having a great university experience, indicating that institutions have room to improve. More than a quarter of students (27%) reported they felt their university was using outdated technology to support students. And, 44 percent of students were frustrated that they needed to sign into more than one app to find the info they needed.
In addition to the lackluster student experience, digital transformation has also brought about issues related to digital equity, and cybersecurity, and the need for continuous infrastructure development requires ongoing attention.
Priorities for Tech Leaders in Higher Education
As education undergoes a digital makeover, these priorities serve as a practical guide for tech leaders steering higher education toward resilience, innovation, and readiness for the future.
- Security and risk management: The need for adequate security is paramount for every department and individual on campus, and requires a mix of on and offline approaches. Recent data reveals that Australia’s education sector is targeted significantly more often than others around the world. And, since the pandemic, cybersecurity breaches in the sector have only continued to climb.
- Budget and tech consolidation: Every educational organization has to determine how to allocate its budget, as more money goes toward technology. The attraction of consolidation is very prevalent as universities are forced to do more with less. Leaders in higher education can reduce costs and improve the student experience by streamlining processes, data, and technology. This can lead to cleaner data, better external reporting, and reduced administrative errors. It can also make innovation easier and help institutions become more agile.
- Legacy technology and the cloud: ELT/ETL for legacy apps to the cloud continues to be an ongoing challenge. Many organizations struggle to deal with the complexities of integrating legacy and/or homegrown apps and databases with Cloud applications.
- How to approach AI: Technical leaders at universities are still figuring out how to approach AI. According to EY, a key focus of digital transformation should include finding ways to automate as much as possible and reduce low-value, manual tasks, allowing administrative and professional staff to spend time on mission-critical activities.
An Integration Platform to Meet the Moment
An Integration Platform to Meet the MomentAn integration platform as a service (iPaaS) like SnapLogic can meet all of these challenges in one, easy-to-use solution.
- Works with existing, mixed-deployment environments
- Data is fully encrypted and only the pipeline infrastructure is accessible
- Requires fewer technical resources because it’s easy to learn and use
- Has generative AI built in to drastically speed up the process of integrating systems?
We’ve worked with several educational institutions like Skidmore and Barnard College to help them connect their systems and set the stage for future data opportunities.
Barnard College: Pioneering a New Era of Integration
Founded in 1889, Barnard College is revered as one of the most selective academic institutions in the nation. The renowned college soon recognized the importance of connecting all of its disparate systems and automating processes while accelerating analytics. This data-driven connectivity would be key to driving modern learning experiences and thriving in a digital-first landscape while keeping pace with today’s student expectations.
Nancy Mustachio, Director of Enterprise Applications at Barnard College | Columbia University, has been instrumental in leading the college’s transformation to a smarter, more digitally connected future. She recently embraced the opportunity to leverage SnapGPT and is excited to be at the forefront of this pioneering technology.
“We are starting to see the initial benefits of Generative Integration. It’s early days but we can already see its potential to increase team efficiency,” Mustachio says. “Our team of developers has used SnapGPT to create and test integration workflows in under an hour, compared to days. I foresee SnapGPT will continue to advance and be able to handle more complex integrations. We’re excited to be at the forefront.”
Unlocking the Future of Business and Higher Education with Generative AI
As we stand on the precipice of an AI-powered future, organizations must engage in a journey of collaboration and education. Cultivating a culture of curiosity, where employees feel empowered to explore and experiment with generative integration, is paramount.
Our research demonstrates that employees are excited by this new technology with nearly two-thirds liking the idea of using AI in their current role. They believe AI has the potential to save them time (54%), increase productivity (46%), and reduce risk and errors in their work (37%).
The opportunity is there. The path forward is clear: Generative Integration holds the key to unlocking unprecedented agility, innovation, and insights.
The synergy between human acumen and AI prowess is poised to reverberate across all facets of business and education, establishing a fresh benchmark of connectivity that transcends conventional boundaries. And it’s all happening in a ‘snap’.
Is your organization ready?
