LYIT secures collaborative funding for three HCI projects

LYIT delighted to receive funding for three significant collaborative projects under the HCI Pillar 3

In Budget 2019, the government announced the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) to underpin the provision of additional capacity across the Higher Education Sector to meet priority skill needs for enterprise.

The HCI incentivises continued reform and innovation in third level provision, building on best practice nationally and internationally, strongly supporting innovation in programme design and delivery. It aims to future proof graduates and ensure that there is a greater focus across the whole spectrum of higher education course provision on promoting and embedding transversal skills.

The Human Capital Initiative consists of 3 Pillars: Pillar 1: Graduate Conversion and Specialisation Courses; Pillar 2: Additional Places on Undergraduate Provision; Pillar 3: Innovation and Agility.

HCI Pillar 3 will deliver 22 projects in higher education institutions, 17 of which involve collaborations between institutions. This is the final HCI Pillar to be announced and commands a total budget of €197 million over the 5-year period, 2020 to 2024.

Under HCI Pillar 3, Innovation and Agility, LYIT has secured collaborative funding for three HCI projects.

LYIT, in collaboration with Connacht-Ulster Alliance (CUA) partners GMIT and project lead IT Sligo, has been awarded €12.4 million funding for the following project, “HigherEd 4.0: Enabling agile responsiveness from Higher Education.”

This project will help propel higher education into a new and exciting age of learning. The project will be led by IT Sligo in collaboration with LYIT and GMIT, and will provide a powerful opportunity to assist in creating a new Technological University whose teaching and learning is innovative from the start.

Vice-President Online Development at IT Sligo, Professor Jacqueline McCormack, who led the successful application acknowledged her CUA colleagues across IT Sligo, GMIT and LYIT and the support of industry partners in making the submission a success: “This project will significantly engage with employers and lifelong learners. This proposal maps out a vision for the future of the agility of higher education in responding to the needs of individuals and employers, and the funding will be used to establish the systems and the capacity required to deliver flexible and highly innovative higher education opportunities. In addition to our core partners many enterprise partners have engaged in the project planning and we want to thank them for their support.”

LYIT will collaborate on an IT Carlow-led project called “Centre for Insurance, Risk and Data Analytics Studies” which has been allocated €1.7m funding. The creation of the Centre for Insurance, Risk and Data Analytics Studies (CIRDAS) will assist in developing higher value-added employment in the insurance sector. CIRDAS will collaboratively develop and deliver industry focused courses in data science, business and design thinking. LYIT will collaborate with the Insurtech Network Centre, the Faculty of Lifelong Learning at Institute of Technology Carlow to meet insurance industry identified skills needs.

In addition to this, LYIT will also collaborate on another IT Carlow-led project supported by The Higher Education Authority (THEA) and the Irish Universities Association (IUA) titled “Realising the potential of recognition of prior learning and lifelong learning in Irish Higher Education” which has been allocated €6.904,175 funding. The cross-sectoral project will focus on realising the potential of recognition of prior learning (RPL) and lifelong learning in Irish higher education. This significant project will make the commitment to RPL in the Programme for Government a reality by mobilising the entire public higher education system through the IUA and THEA to deliver RPL in a coherent and systematic way for the benefit of learners and employers.

Paul Hannigan, LYIT President, commented: “LYIT is delighted to receive funding for three significant collaborative projects under the HCI Pillar 3. Our work with CUA partners, IT Sligo and GMIT towards becoming a Technological University is going from strength to strength and this funding will significantly enhance our capability to deliver highly innovative higher education opportunities that will enhance our regions. The additional funding for RPL will enhance and support RPL activities at LYIT. The creation of the Centre for Insurance, Risk and Data Analytics Studies (CIRDAS) will assist in developing higher value-added employment in the insurance sector and this will further boost our region. It is an exciting time in higher education and we are embracing this period of transformative change within the sector.”

9 Oct 2020