JISC

In June 2007, the UK Government designated Islamic Studies a strategically important subject and asked HEFCE to develop a programme to support this field.

The Government made such an announcement in the light of the report ‘Universities in England – meeting the needs and investing in the future’ by Dr Ataullah Siddiqui. As cited on the then DfES website:

“Islamic studies is to be designated “strategically” important because of its contribution to the UK's political and cultural capital through its role in promoting understanding of Islam in the context of the world today … A strategically important subject is a subject where there is a national interest (for the economy or society) in safeguarding research and/or the supply of graduates with the right knowledge and skills.” 

In the light of this, staff from the JISC Digitisation Programme, with input from the Higher Education Academy, have discussed with HEFCE the contribution that could be made to the development of Islamic Studies via the use of existing digitised resources and the digitisation of new ones. It is clear from the numerous resources available on the Internet that there is much potential for exploiting digitised resources to assist in the study and teaching of Islamic Studies. A wealth of material (both primary and secondary sources) is available. Such material is supplemented by gateways, reference sites and portals which collate various resources elsewhere on the Internet.

The JISC then issued an ITT to further explore the area; the DigiIslam project at the University of Exeter is the result of this call.

The final report can be accessed here.