The influence of the digital transition is being felt across large swathes of society. This includes universities in their research, education and innovation missions, but also in their general organisation and management.
While this topic has been on the agenda for more than a decade, developments such as the provision of short online courses, or microcredentials, have increased its scope. The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly accelerated these dynamics, with universities quickly pivoting to remote learning.
The digital transition presents significant opportunities for innovation, but also requires universities to develop new infrastructure and enhance digital skills among staff. Policy and funding frameworks must be adjusted to reflect universities’ interests, both as adopters and developers of digital technologies and approaches.
The European University Association is taking a holistic approach to the digital transition of universities. This involves looking at the cultural and institutional changes that will allow universities to use digital technologies to enhance their activities and missions, while keeping control of their digital choices, tools and data and promoting university values. To facilitate this, EUA has developed a digital transition work programme the Digital Transformation Steering Committee and Advisory Board.
In addition, EUA supports its members in their ongoing strategic development, notably to develop a “high-performance digital education ecosystem”, including through the DIGI-HE project which explores strategic approaches to digitally enhanced learning and teaching. This is also one of the priorities of the EU’s 2020 Digital Education Action Plan, .
As part of its work on Open Science, for many years EUA has actively promoted open access to data. The Association is a member of the governing board of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and is engaged in furthering skills to ensure Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) data through the FAIRsFAIR Project. Additionally, EUA has gathered data on universities’ innovation activities related to the digital transition via its recent innovation survey.
Following the widespread concern and debate provoked by the arrival of ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence (AI) tools, the European University Association’s Learning and Teaching Steering Committee shares key considerations for European universities.
The European University Association welcomes the European Commission’s Communication on A New European Innovation Agenda, notably as an overarching innovation agenda is needed to tackle specific bottlenecks which stunt Europe’s innovation performance, and to achieve consistency and effective implementation of the various tools available for this purpose.
OECD has issued a publication on artificial intelligence (AI) in science. The rapid advances of AI in recent years have led to numerous creative applications in science. Accelerating the productivity of science could be the most economically and socially valuable of all the uses of AI....
view moreAt least 20% of students within the European Higher Education Area should experience mobility to...
read moreThe European University Association (EUA) and the Latin American and Caribbean Space for Higher Education (ENLACES) have published a joint statement ahead of a summit between the two regions’ leaders. The third summit between leaders from the European Union and the Community of Latin American...
view moreThis report summarises the main results, insights and open questions of the DIGI-HE project and...
read moreThe European University Association, alongside several fellow associations that represent universities and university libraries, has called for the EU’s co-legislators to ensure that the proposed Data Act ensure fair access to data for research purposes. In a joint statement, EUA, CESAER, the...
view moreIn its input to a European Commission public consultation on emerging virtual worlds (e.g. metaverses), the European University Association has highlighted that universities are important users, as well as creators, of virtual and augmented reality technologies. Pointing to the increased use of...
view moreThis report summarises the findings of the EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group "Needs...
read moreThis report summarises the findings of the EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group...
read moreThis report summarises the findings of the 2022 EUA Thematic Peer Group which explored...
read moreToday, the Council of the European Union adopted Conclusions on the New European Innovation Agenda. The European University Association (EUA) welcomes this decision and notes the emphasis on a broader range of innovation processes and stakeholders that should have been included in the Agenda from...
view moreOn 15 September 2022, the European Commission published the third Call for proposals in advanced digital skills under the DIGITAL Europe Programme. The programe will fund Master’s and Bachelor’s programmes in digital technologies (for example cybersecurity, AI, blockchain, IoT, big data, cloud...
view moreThe European Commission is developing a set of non-binding commitments for EU member states...
read moreThe European Commission is developing a set of non-binding commitments for EU member states...
read moreIn early May, members of the Digital Transformation Steering Committee came together for a first meeting in Brussels. The committee was established to strengthen EUA’s activities in the area of digitalisation of higher education institutions. At its inaugural meeting, members of the committee...
view moreIn the last eight months, Europe’s recovery agenda has become clearer. The focus on digitalisation...
read moreEUA and other associations representing European universities, research performing organisations, research funding organisations, research libraries, and repositories in Europe have released a joint statement in the context of ongoing trilogue negotiations on the Digital Services Act...
view moreThis report provides in-depth analysis of the results of the first-ever Europe-wide survey on...
read moreThis report outlines the conclusions of the Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group “Strategy...
read moreThis report outlines the conclusions of the Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group...
read moreThis report summarises the findings of the EUA Thematic Peer Group ‘‘International Partnerships’’...
read moreIn Europe today, almost every higher education institution uses digitally enhanced learning and...
read moreOn 30 September, the European Commission presented a package of three major initiatives aimed at unlocking Europe’s potential in education, research and innovation. The Commission published two dedicated Communications on the European Education Area and the European Research Area. It also...
view moreFor Claudia von der Linden and Lina Michel, modern digitalisation initiatives call for a...
read moreWladimir Mufty reflects on his organisation’s work to explore a higher education and research...
read moreDoes artificial intelligence pose a threat to learning and teaching? Heli Harrikari argues that AI...
read moreThe AI debate goes much further than cheating on exams or generating texts for scientific...
read moreBeyond getting the technology in place, digitally enhanced learning and teaching (DELT) in higher...
read moreUniversities must rethink the way they address digital transformation. Strategic planning must...
read moreDigitalisation permeates all areas of university life, and thrives on openness, interaction and...
read moreIn May 2022, the world of higher education met for the first UNESCO World Higher Education...
read moreEducation’s digital transition has allowed students to study and researchers to work remotely...
read moreWe must fundamentally address how to shape learning in the digital transformation. Breaking down...
read moreHow can universities address digital and academic sovereignty through jointly coordinated actions...
read moreEU policy makers often fail to consider the specific nature of higher education, research and...
read moreUniversities support Europe’s agenda for digital leadership in their role as digital technology...
read moreFor quite some time, researchers have explored generative artificial intelligence – capable of producing texts and images that could have been made by humans....
Read moreThe recording of the workshop is now available. What is the future of digitally enhanced learning and teaching in post-Covid higher education? As...
Read moreThe recording of the workshop is now available. What is the future of digitally enhanced learning and teaching in post-Covid higher education? As...
Read moreThe recording of the workshop is now available. The Covid-19 crisis has enhanced practice and fuelled discussion on the digital provision of learning and...
Read moreEUA is pleased to invite university leaders from its membership to an online discussion on the impact of artificial intelligence on labour markets and society...
Read moreThe European University Association offered a webinar on the European Union’s digital policies and how universities can benefit from them. The webinar...
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