Open Data Benchmarking for Higher Education: Management and Technology Perspectives

Abstract

Along with many trends in Higher Education (HE) sector and data-smart education, open data becomes a key issue for innovations in the Data Era. This conceptual article highlights the significance of using open data for HE benchmarking and tries to answer the question “Are the universities ready for benchmarking using open data?â€. Based on a literary review and a desk research method, the article starts with a short overview of university benchmarking practices and benchmarking data. The study discusses open dataand HE open data and portals. The article finds that one of the difficult steps in the HE benchmarking process is data gathering, most of the data are available from data sources, which have to be analyzed additionally, the data cannot be reused and has to be investigated through labor and time consuming activities. The paper outlines that there is a potential for implementation of open data benchmarking at HE and concludes with the key management and technologies perspectives.