I am pleased to announce that the call for submissions for the IWMW 2017 event is now open.

The IWMW 2017 event will be held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July 2017. This year’s event is the 21st in the series, which was founded in 1997. This event is the longest-running event for university web teams around the world!

The theme of this year’s event is “It’s The End Of The Institution As We Know It (And We Feel Fine)“. The background to this theme is given below.

Today’s political and funding environment are adding additional challenges to the higher education community. In addition to the funding crisis dating back to 2008 institutions are now preparing for the implications of Brexit, further restriction on immigration and possible loss of EU sources of funding. “It’s the end of the institutions as we know it” we may feel.

And yet the higher education community has a well-established tradition of community and sharing and this is particularly true for those with responsibilities for delivering large-scale digital services, with the past 20 years of IWMW events providing valuable opportunities for sharing best practices, identifying technical innovations and organisational changes and learning from mistakes.

This year’s event will provide an opportunity to hear about significant changes and how institutions are responding to such changes. In addition sessions will cover best practices and institutional case studies.

The Call for Submissions provides further information about the submission process.

Note that as well as submissions for those working in institutional web and digital teams, we also welcome submissions from those who are involved in institutional strategies and planning where this will affect the provision of digital services.

We also welcome submissions from members of user communities, including students and researchers.

The call for submissions will remain open until 1 March 2017. However we encourage early submissions in order that we can spot any gaps in the range of topics submitted.

If you would like to discuss a possible submission feel free to contact Brian Kelly or Claire Gibbons, the IWMW 2017 co-chairs, or a member of the IWMW 2017 advisory group.