Launch event for a joint umbrella strategy for digital transformation at universities

Online teaching boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber attacks, ChatGPT – digitalization bears both opportunities and risks for universities. How can digital transformation be designed well at Saxony’s universities – from education to administration to research? About 200 representatives from politics and academia gathered at the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) today to share opinions and ideas. The participants discussed topics including IT infrastructure, information and cyber security, and data protection.

Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow “Digitalization can make university education more international, effective and open-minded in addition to improving research quality, transfer, and efficiency in administration. Digitalization is a task that we must tackle with energy and vigor to ensure that the Free State of Saxony stands out as an appealing university location. Our success will be measured by the students, lecturers, researchers and administrative employees we draw in.”

The next step is to develop a joint umbrella strategy for digital transformation at universities. In the coming months, the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK), Saxon universities, the Saxony University of Cooperative Education and the academic libraries will be working hard to achieve this goal.

Chair of the Saxon State Rectors’ Conference Prof. Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht comments, “Solo efforts in individual parts of Saxony are counterproductive. When it comes to digitalization, all universities face similar challenges. Pooling our resources and moving forth together is more important than ever.”

Today’s launch event was organized by TU Dresden on the initiative of the State Rectors’ Conference and the SMWK.

Prof. Lars Bernard, Chief Officer Digitalization and Information of TU Dresden stated, “We at TU Dresden seek to drive the digital transformation forward in all areas. This applies to research, an area in which data science, open science and reproducible science enable innovative, transparent and comprehensible processes that give rise to new scientific findings. We have also made great strides in education by embracing digital tools and reforming the way we teach. In both areas, however, there are still many challenges that we must address together. We at TUD are therefore eager to contribute our experiences and ideas to the development of a Saxon strategy for digital transformation at universities.” 

More information on today’s event, which also welcomed many viewers via live stream:
https://buergerbeteiligung.sachsen.de/portal/smwkt/beteiligung/themen/1032598

More on the background of the proposed strategy:
https://www.studieren.sachsen.de/digitale-transformation-im-hochschulbereich-4681.html