Risk Analysis

Risk	Probability	Severity	Score	Action/Mitigation
Difficulties recruiting or retaining staff	2	4	8	Key members of staff already in post at UKOLN, Mimas and Eduserv
Project is over-ambitious	2	2	4	The project plan will ensure that deliverables are delivered in a timely fashion and the project does not divert from agreed goals.
Failure to meet deadlines within the project timescale	2	4	8	Clear project plan with all relevant tasks outlined, continuous review and rescheduling of work as necessary
Failure to disseminate best practices effectively	2	2	4	UKOLN has very effective dissemination channels. The involvement of partners who can gain clear benefits from this work will allow them to be involved in dissemination activities.
Project partners fail to work effectively	1	3	3	UKOLN has good links with all the partners, many through previous joint projects and recent consultancy work. A consortium agreement with address potential concerns.

Evaluation

LOCAH will be evaluated by a number of means including qualitative and quantitative methods, and will look at both the tangible and intangible outputs of the project. We will regularly check progress against the project plan and requirements, and we will engage with users through the blog, social media, questionnaires and events. The project manager will lead the evaluation, liaising with relevant parties and drawing on contacts within the JISC community and wider HE community.

Impact

Several members of the project team are closely involved with current Linked Data activities, and are fully aware of the current ‘state of the art’ against which the impact of the project will be evaluated. The immediate impact of the project will be to provide two new enriched and quality assured data sets to the UK HE and global data graph. It will also provide a prototype that highlights the potential of Linked Data for enhancing learning, teaching and research. The long-term impact will be to help Linked Data gain traction and achieve a critical mass in the UK HE community, as well as providing invaluable experience and insight on a range of issues. Mimas intends to sustain the Linked Data sets, and will ensure that the resources have stable URIs for two years beyond the life of the project. The project may be able to transition to using the Talis Connected Commons scheme if the licensing situation can be clarified. This would then provide long-term sustainability for the data publishing.