University for Industry (UFI, UK)

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Ufi is taking forward the Government's vision of a 'University for Industry'. Working as a public-private partnership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Ufi aims to put individuals in a better position to get jobs, improve their career prospects and boost business competitiveness. Ufi's learning services are being delivered through its learndirect service, which provides access to innovative and high quality courses, over 80 percent of them on-line. learndirect will enable people to fit learning into their lives, learning wherever they have access to the Internet - at home, at work, or in one of over 1000 learndirect centres. The university for industry, Ufi Limited, was created in 1998 as the government's flagship for lifelong learning. Within a year of becoming fully operational in October 2000, it had created with its partners learndirect - the largest publicly funded online learning service in the UK.

Ufi learndirect has been fully operational since October 2000. We have enrolled 180,000 learners on to over 400,000 courses, and currently deal with over 3,000 course enrolments every day. Over 100,000 visit our learndirect website daily.

Ufi Limited works with a wide range of partners in the worlds of education, training and employment as well as the voluntary and community sectors. Together we form a unique nationwide e-learning network - learndirect - and on behalf of all providers Ufi Limited manages learndirect - the national learning advice service. We are supported by public funds and play a key role in governmental strategies for adult learning, basic skills, social inclusion, workforce development and business competitiveness.

Vision and Strategy
The concept of a university for industry is as powerful for the twenty-first century as the notion of an open university was in the last. Through its learndirect network, Ufi Limited is a significant catalyst for change in the lifelong learning market. UFI vision is that by 2005 learndirect will be:

• a household name for learning for all citizens;
• a high street brand recognised by consumers for learning and learning information/advice;
• an effective ICT business solution for the UK workforce;
• a UK export with global significance in which all partners can take pride and credit.

Ufi Limited has been in existence for three years, with the learndirect e-learning network becoming fully operational just a year ago in October 2000. It is now moving from being a start-up organisation towards one whose efforts over the next three years will be channelled towards successful implementation, delivery and results. At the heart of this plan lies the perpetual quest to understand learners' different motivations, to satisfy diverse needs and to make use of the most appropriate technologies and teaching methods to meet individual requirements.

Ufi's technology strategy is based upon multi-channel delivery, providing access to learning where people want it, using their preferred technology. Ufi's value is our capability for turning standards and theory into implementation, as we have already done with a comprehensive, publicly available online e-learning infrastructure. We have established feasibility pilots in delivery of basic skills content through mobile and iDTV technologies, and are initiating a programme of work to identify better ways of using assistive technologies to meet the needs of learners with disabilities. We have also established a programme of work aimed at achieving practical implementation of learning object technologies. As part of this, and to further our aim of improving the quality of the e-learning market, we have played a leading role in promoting the adoption of emerging content design standards, usability and accessibility standards and good practice, and open platform standards.

Key people: Terry Keefe

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