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While this topic has been on the agenda for more than a decade, developments such as data-driven governance and the use of machine learning have increased its scope.
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 takes a holistic approach to the digital transition of universities, including artificial intelligence. 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.
EUA supports its members in the development of their strategic approaches to digitally enhanced learning and teaching with a view to cultivating a ‘high-performance digital education ecosystem’, notably through the DIGI-HE project (2020-2023).
Learn more about the DIGI-HE project
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.
Digital technologies also have significant potential to deepen institutional partnerships. As such, EUA monitors the political drivers and initiatives shaping approaches to digitally-enabled cooperation across the sector. In its briefing on ‘Developing common learning opportunities through interoperability’, the Association looks at the implementation of interoperable systems within the European Universities alliances and explores possible trajectories for its wider application both within and beyond alliances.
Read our interoperability briefing
Launched in September 2024, EUA’s Digital Transformation Map gathers the experiences of EUA members and the wider university community in tackling ongoing developments in the digital sphere.
To do so, it presents a rich collection of practice examples, reflecting a diverse range of initiatives undertaken to advance transformation in Europe’s university sector. As such, it is an invaluable reference for senior university leaders driving change within their institutions, offering orientation and guidance on pressing issues for university communities, including digital sovereignty, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and many others.
As digital technologies, as well as the frameworks that govern activity in the digital sphere, continue to advance at a rapid pace, the map will also grow and evolve. For this reason, EUA members can contribute to the map’s further development by sharing initiatives that might be applicable in other contexts or support peer institutions in their transformation. They can do so by visiting the Digital Transformation Map and completing the ‘Contribute’ form.
Discover and add to the Digital Transformation Map
Interoperability, if effectively implemented across European higher education, can deepen inter-institutional cooperation and transform traditional learning pathways. ...
At least 20% of students within the European Higher Education Area should experience mobility to an institution abroad. This briefing examines why this target has never been reached, the ensuing ...
This report summarises the main results, insights and open questions of the DIGI-HE project and sets them in the wider context of Europe’s institutions and systems. As such, this final report public ...
This report summarises the findings of the EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group "Needs and wellbeing of students and staff", which was active throughout 2022. ...
This report summarises the findings of the EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group “Digitally competent teachers in designing quality learning environments”, which was active throughout 20 ...
This report summarises the findings of the 2022 EUA Thematic Peer Group which explored collaborative teaching practice (CTP) in higher education in detail. ...
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 Co ...
The European Commission is developing a set of non-binding commitments for EU member states regarding the provision of digital skills. This policy input summarises EUA’s input ahead of an eventual C ...
The European Commission is developing a set of non-binding commitments for EU member states regarding enabling factors for digital education. This policy input summarises EUA’s input ahead of an eve ...
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 bot ...
This report provides in-depth analysis of the results of the first-ever Europe-wide survey on universities and innovation. ...
This report outlines the conclusions of the Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group “Strategy and organisational culture”, which explored the role of strategy and organisational culture in pro ...
This report outlines the conclusions of the Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group “Curriculum and assessment”, which examined how to embed digitally enhanced learning and teaching (DELT) and ...
This report summarises the findings of the EUA Thematic Peer Group ‘‘International Partnerships’’ which explored digitally enhanced internationalisation of higher education in detail. The repo ...
This EUA position outlines the preliminary findings of a major study on innovation at European universities. It captures the different levels of innovation capacity at universities, as well as how the ...
In Europe today, almost every higher education institution uses digitally enhanced learning and teaching. Since EUA began exploring this topic in 2013, digitally enhanced learning and teaching has bee ...
On 11 and 12 October, the European University Association (EUA) attended the annual in-person meeting of the Global University Associations Forum (GUAF) in Beijing, hosted by the China Association of ...
The European University Association’s Digital Transformation Map, a new living resource for universities navigating change in the digital space, is now online. ...
The International Association of Universities (IAU) is pleased to launch the 2nd edition of the Global Survey on the Digital Transformation of Higher Education. ...
On 28 March, the European University Association’s new Task and Finish Group on Artificial Intelligence held its first meeting in Brussels. ...
Too often, European regulations and directives have been proposed with far-reaching consequences for universities, research centres and the people who work there, but with little or no consideration o ...
OECD has issued a publication on artificial intelligence (AI) in science. ...
The 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’ leader ...
The 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 Da ...
In 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 we ...
Today, 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 ...
On 15 September 2022, the European Commission published the third Call for proposals in advanced digital skills under the DIGITAL Europe Programme. ...
In early May, members of the Digital Transformation Steering Committee came together for a first meeting in Brussels. ...
EUA and other associations representing European universities, research performing organisations, research funding organisations, research libraries, and repositories in Europe have released a joint s ...
Exploration into the use of AI – whether in learning and teaching, research or institutional management – is deepening. Among university communities, its real and potential value is increasingly u ...
For Stefan Lang, we need a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations of AI in higher education that prioritises the ability of both humans and machines to think outside the box. ...
For Karl Tombre, universities need broad innovation strategies to tackle the immense challenges of this century, but this means looking beyond the technology transfer office and moving past outdated c ...
The rapid proliferation of AI tools is just one part of an ongoing era of global digital transformation. What actions can we take to create the digital future we want to see? ...
Can universities move beyond present discussions of AI’s disruptive impact on higher education and embrace this (forced) opportunity to rethink our role in the society of the future? For Manfred Kra ...
For Claudia von der Linden and Lina Michel, modern digitalisation initiatives call for a substantial cultural shift. In this article, they describe how three Austrian universities are proactively reca ...
Wladimir Mufty reflects on his organisation’s work to explore a higher education and research social media platform based on public values, and offers some mastodo’s and mastodon’ts. Social med ...
Does artificial intelligence pose a threat to learning and teaching? Heli Harrikari argues that AI should be seen as part of broader, fast accelerating digitalisation of higher education and can provi ...
The AI debate goes much further than cheating on exams or generating texts for scientific articles; it is also about university values. For University World News, EUA’s Thomas Jørgensen explores th ...
Beyond getting the technology in place, digitally enhanced learning and teaching (DELT) in higher education requires considerable resources and engagement, strategy and leadership. In this article for ...
Universities must rethink the way they address digital transformation. Strategic planning must evolve to take advantage of opportunities in the digital world and organisations must learn to use data m ...
Digitalisation permeates all areas of university life, and thrives on openness, interaction and fast-paced innovation. In this piece, Ronald Maier, a member of EUA’s new Digital Transformation Steer ...
In May 2022, the world of higher education met for the first UNESCO World Higher Education Conference in over a decade. Here, after returning from the event in Barcelona, EUA’s Thomas Jørgensen rec ...
Education’s digital transition has allowed students to study and researchers to work remotely throughout the pandemic, however we need to ensure technology is not abused and access is open to all. ...
We must fundamentally address how to shape learning in the digital transformation. Breaking down the “Hagen Manifesto on New Learning”, Annabel Bils from FernUniversität explains why now is the t ...
How can universities address digital and academic sovereignty through jointly coordinated actions in education, research and research assessment? VSNU’s Darco Jansen outlines the Dutch example, prov ...
EU policy makers often fail to consider the specific nature of higher education, research and innovation in legislation aimed to shape Europe’s digital transformation. EUA expert Bregt Saenen explai ...
Universities support Europe’s agenda for digital leadership in their role as digital technology makers. At the same time, they must adapt to the growing digitalisation of research practice, but thei ...
While Europe discusses its data strategy, the digital transformation must be on the radar of universities. Digital skills, the infrastructure and support for “FAIR” research data management, and t ...
‘How universities are shaping the era of artificial intelligence’ will explore university approaches to creating and managing change in the technological sphere. This event, which takes place onli ...
