Abstract
The chapter outlines a vision of further data incorporation for better data-driven decision-making (DDDM) in South African (SA) higher education institutions (HEIs) based on a common business intelligence (BI) framework, which the majority of these HEIs use: PowerHEDA. We explore the current DDDM landscape, its (suboptimal) usage in education and the challenges experienced in greater DDDM usage. It argues that although early warnings for various purposes exist, there are missed opportunities that this multilevel data architecture can achieve for better monitoring, evaluation, teaching, and learning as well as the provision of appropriate just-in-time support. The chapter examines available data sources, discusses what is needed to mitigate risk, and realise those missed opportunities to achieve an envisaged future of higher education (HE) in SA. The chapter concludes by providing a concrete discussion on five areas of required change in HE and where the DDDM multilevel data architecture of PowerHEDA may assist in making the change at an individual, organisational, and external level.