18 November 2025 - DIG25 Liam Clancy
I’ve been a member of the UCISA Digital Infrastructure Group for some time, although never attended a UCISA conference before. When I saw the DIG25 theme AI: friend or foe” I was intrigued and so I read the information and schedule I quickly realised how relevant and current the sessions were. I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to attend via the UCISA PlusOne bursary scheme and so duly booked my travel.
Once my place was confirmed, I had several sponsors and exhibitors reach out to introduce themselves, and one was organising an informal get together on the evening before the conference started. I accepted and was glad that a number of other delegates also in attendance. I found this to be the perfect start to the conference, I thought it was much easier to make introductions and break the ice with many people in a slower paced social setting, rather than the hustle and bustle of the actual conference.
The conference started the next day, first there was a round of introductions from the conference teams and then the exhibitors had a chance to introduce themselves, their companies and to make promises of mostly a years supply of Greggs sausage rolls to one lucky delegate.
The sessions themselves were first class – led by a mixture of peers from our sector and industry, they were current, relevant, informative and thought provoking. The differing content and delivery styles kept me interested and I found myself making pages of notes. My favourite was probably the speaker who demonstrated some of the concerns around AI by using ElevenLabs’ voice generator to try to scam his own mother! In my role, I’m distanced from the students and so it was good to hear some of the speakers relate AI technology to student needs and concerns: it reminded me of the impact that my own work has on our students.
I must also mention the sponsors and exhibitors; we had plenty of time to talk with them and I found them to be pleased to talk through their products and services. They were all knowledgeable about the challenges faced by our sector and were showcasing some amazing products. I was expecting a ‘hard sell’ approach, but I didn’t feel that at all – the conversations seemed like they were between colleagues rather than supplier and potential customer.
The absolute best thing was meeting with peers across the Higher Education sector, and to share anecdotes, experiences and opinions. I was reminded that some of the issues we have at Greenwich are shared across many different institutions and was able to discuss similarities and differences of approaches across the sector. It was refreshing to step away from my day-to-day work to get some sector and industry wide perspective and take on new ideas from fellow professionals.
If I could pass on any suggestions for people attending future conferences, they would be:
- Take advantage of social gatherings – the conference days run to a fairly fast paced schedule and so there’s less chance to socialise
- Try to find time to investigate the local area, I found it strange to be in the conference building for two whole days
- Travel light because the exhibitors are very generous with their merchandise
