Articulating value in the digital world
            A conference on the espida Approach

Producing a realistic assessment of the benefits of IT or
Information projects is tough.  This conference will be
of value to both the managers of resources (decision
makers, funders, etc.) who are seeking to understand what
they might get for money expended and those that prepare
business cases for projects who want to convince those
with the money that what they propose is worthwhile.  It
will explain the background to the problem, ways that it
has been addressed in the past, the approach developed in
the espida Project and the perspectives of funders,
decision makers and others on the problem and this
approach.


Management

The rapid pace of change in Higher and Further Education
means that decision-makers and funders are frequently
required to evaluate project proposals that have serious
implications for their institutions. There are never
enough resources available to fund more than a small
fraction of the proposals and decision makers are keenly
aware that the size of the resource pool is fixed and
that every pound spent on infrastructure and
administration is a pound not spent on `primary
production': learning, teaching and research.

Costs of projects are relatively straight-forward to
define, but benefits that are not expressed in financial
terms can be very difficult to communicate and measure.
These intangible benefits are frequently a major feature
of business cases and are often expressed in vague
prosaic language.

This conference, held by the espida Project will offer an
approach that can help construct and communicate
intangible benefits in such a way that informed and
transparent decisions can be made for the benefit of the
organisation. Speakers will present a view of the
economic background to the issue of understanding
intangibles, the espida Approach itself, and examples of
how the Approach can be used successfully in different
types of organisation.


Proposers

How are business cases for resources made within your
organisation? Are hours spent carefully crafting purple
prose to convince senior management about the merits of
your work? Do management find it hard to understand the
benefits of the proposal?

The espida Approach was initially developed as an aid to
securing resources for actions to preserve digital
materials, helping to define the value of such work in a
language that senior management can understand. In
addition to the digital preservation community however,
the Approach has high relevance for areas that measure
their outcomes, not with financial indicators but rather
more intangible results. These include records
management, knowledge management and IT. In general, any
business case that must convey outcomes that are not
purely financial may benefit from applying the espida
Approach.

The Approach helps users:

a)   Figure out what the benefits of their proposal
      really are,
b)   Express these benefits in a way that communicates
      them effectively,
c)   Identify outcomes in a systematic fashion.

This conference, held by the espida Project, will offer
an Approach that can help communicate intangible benefits
in such a way that proposers can increase the chances of
their proposal being understood and resourced.

Speakers include:

Helen Shenton (British Library)
Welcome

Professor Sir Laurie Hunter (University of Glasgow)
Setting the scene

Dr. James Currall & Peter McKinney (University of
Glasgow)
The espida Approach

Alice Colban (JISC)
The Approach in the context of Funding Bodies

Dugald Mackie (Vice-Principal, University of Manchester)
The Approach in the context of HE decision-making

Julie Carpenter (Director, Education for Change)
The Approach in the context of consultancy in Heritage


Conference details:

Monday 12th February
British Library Conference Centre
10am-4pm

Cost: Free

To register for the conference please visit the website
(www.gla.ac.uk/espida).

Contact Joan Keenan for further information
([log in to unmask]).