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New global initiative launched to improve academic collaboration

AXELOS launches global Academia initiative to promote the value of best practice in higher education.

axelos-collaboration-global [1]AXELOS [2], a portfolio and project management company, has launched a new global initiative to improve collaboration between academia, students and commercial organizations, enhancing knowledge and development of best practice across IT Service Management (ITSM), Project and Program Management (PPM) and Cyber Resilience.

AXELOS is working with higher education institutes (HEIs) and their students from the across the world, providing a platform to discuss how incorporating best practice methodologies into academic syllabi can increase employability and close the skills gap.

“Our aim is to foster a community of interested stakeholders and promote discussion and debate around how best practice is leveraged in academia,” said Philip Hearsum, AXELOS ITSM Portfolio Manager. “As owners of the Global Best Practice portfolio, we want to support both HEIs and students on their journey, and make sure graduates enter the job market with up-to-date skills, giving them a real competitive advantage.”

(Next page: Universities already signed-on; LinkedIn group)


The initiative will also work with enterprises, not-for-profit organizations and public sector institutions to examine the skills required to meet the challenges they face.

“By addressing business needs with pragmatic high quality academic research, supported by best practices, academic organizations can form and improve partnerships with the community,” added Hearsum. “In turn, discussions and innovations resulting from this can contribute greatly to the development and enhancement of best practices.”

AXELOS has launched a LinkedIn group [3] to collect examples of successful use of best practices in HEIs and exemplars of successful models both for curriculum development and for acquiring research funding.

“I welcome the opportunity for university professors and IT professionals to work in a collaborative manner to grow the knowledge base of ITSM,” said Dr. Stuart Diaz Galup, associate professor of IT in the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University. “Although the initiative is in its infancy, the results so far are promising. I believe that it will provide great value and I look forward to working with the initiative on research and pedagogical projects.”

According to Sandra Whittleston, senior lecturer in ITSM at the Northampton Business School at the University of Northampton, existing frameworks and standards such as those found in ITSM and project management are the linchpin of what works in the real world. “Therefore we need to get our young people early enough in the learning cycle so that they understand these principles as they start their careers. By teaching them a range of ITSM methodologies through formal education routes, such as those found in university programmes and apprenticeships, we are giving them a fighting chance of acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills.”

More information about the initiative can be found on the AXELOS website: https://www.axelos.com/community/academia [4]