Sir John Daniel is vice-chancellor of the Open University in the United Kingdom and president of the United States Open University. It served as the backdrop for the final approval of the regents technology principles, which are aimed at enhancing educational delivery and access to the academic programs of the University System of Georgia. Hard technologies are bits and bytes, electrons and e-mail, satellites and search engines.
Soft technologies are processes, approaches, sets of rules and models of organization.
The most important key to using distance learning in a way that is both intellectually powerful and competitively cost-effective is to get the soft technologies right. The hard technologies change. Sir John highlighted the Open University's success, and the quality measurements and statistics that validate that success. With 160,000 students in degree credit courses, including a graduate school of 30,000, and about 1,500 research students, it is the largest university in that country. The institution employs 3,600 full-time staff members and 7,000 associate faculty.