The University’s annual data conference took place this February, and it was fantastic to see the IT Innovation team contributing to talks, presentations, and discussions throughout the event.
Annual internal conferences are incredibly valuable. They provide the time and space for teams who don’t normally work together to share ideas, tackle challenges, and exchange ways of working. This year’s theme was Empowering People with Data — a mission our team has always championed. Whether it’s our contribution to the University’s data strategy and platforms, the development of the Personalised Learner Profile (PLP), or our recent work building agentic AI applications to evaluate complex datasets, we are focused on making data accessible and actionable.
The Personalised Learner Profile (PLP)
Many of the engineers now in the IT Innovation team contributed to the birth of the PLP — a data-driven application designed to facilitate and empower better conversations between staff and students during tutorials.
Max Williams, Senior IT Innovation Developer and Data Engineering Lead, was invited to discuss the underlying data model that makes PLP possible. During his talk, he described the technical architecture required for moving millions of rows of data daily. He also emphasised how collaboration is central to agreeing on business-driven approaches to data modelling, and outlined an image for the future of robust student engagement data processing at the University. Today, the PLP is used by thousands of staff and students every week to support the student experience.
Qualitative Survey Analytics: Launching Our Next Pilot
Alongside colleagues from Market Insights, we presented an AI-enabled pilot designed to transform how we analyse qualitative data, such as free-text comments from the National Student Survey (NSS).
The session was led by Dr. Kate Whiston, who shared the journey from the initial challenge of processing thousands of comments to the collaborative design of a secure, ethical, and user-friendly analytics platform.
Starting with traditional Natural Language Processing (NLP) and evolving into Large Language Models (LLMs), the pilot demonstrates how AI can rapidly categorize comments, detect sentiment, and surface emerging issues at scale. By reducing weeks of manual effort to mere minutes, we shift the focus from labor-intensive processing to insight, action, and impact.
Get involved: Register your interest here.
Failing Fast: Show the Thing and Get Feedback
Giving people the ability to provide honest feedback on our applications is a vital part of the innovation process. The quicker we can get our ideas in front of people with real-world applications, the quicker we can improve, pivot, or stop.
Innovation requires the bravery to “show the thing” early, and the equal bravery to give up on something that isn’t delivering value. Internal conference talks are a perfect arena for this kind of essential feedback loop.
Learning from Others
It wasn’t just about presenting; it was also about listening. The entire team attended various sessions, including:
- Advanced Research Computing: A look at platforms supporting research data science, including developments that allow researchers to search and index thousands of papers at lightning speed.
- The SharePoint Platform: An inspiring talk on migrating from an aging web CMS to a modern SharePoint intranet — analysing and migrating thousands of data points in a very short window.
Key Takeaways
While internal events shouldn’t be the only time we collaborate outside traditional structures, they are often the only spaces that truly facilitate it. We must ensure that more opportunities for cross-team working exist year-round.
AI was, unsurprisingly, the dominant theme. It was encouraging to hear such constructive, practical questions about its application. While we must proceed with caution, the opportunities to empower data usage with GenAI over the next few years are immense.
We truly valued the opportunity to share our work. A specific thanks to Ben Craddock, James Milne, and the Strategic Planning Team for organising and hosting such a successful event! Be sure to keep an eye on the Reporting & Analytics Community of Practice (RACoP) Viva Engage page for future events.