International

Which international trends and topics are shaping the digital transformation in the higher education landscape? How can we promote exchange and cooperation across national borders and transfer best practice examples to the German higher education landscape? The HFD addresses these and other issues as part of its international activities.

By examining current topics and trends, the HFD explores relevant developments in the international university context and thus ensures international connectivity in digital university teaching. Collaboration with partners and networks throughout Europe forms the basis for cooperation in the area of teaching development. It enables us to provide forward-looking impetus for the German higher education community to master the often similar challenges of digital transformation. It is these international relationships and the exchange of international best practices that increase the value and effectiveness of higher education everywhere.

In recent years, many countries and higher education systems have stepped up their efforts to successfully implement the digital transformation of teaching and learning. The delegation trips sponsored by Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, so-called “Peer Learning Journeys”, aimed to familiarize the HFD community with innovative approaches, political frameworks and structural solutions from other higher education systems.

Interdisciplinary teams from German universities visited selected international partner institutions, took part in expert discussions, workshops and campus tours and exchanged views with local experts on key topics such as future skills, new learning spaces, open educational resources and the role of students as partners.

The aim was to gain deeper insights into successful strategies and change processes, strengthen international exchange and receive transferable impulses for their own university practice. The results of the trips were then prepared in the form of blog articles, videos, podcasts and other formats and shared with the HFD community in order to make good practices visible and promote the systematic transfer of knowledge.

The challenges of digital transformation in the higher education sector know no national borders. The European Higher Education Area, which is characterized by the Bologna Process, offers ideal conditions for cooperation, exchange and the development of joint solutions. In 2023, Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD) initiated the “International Roundtable Digital Transformation in Higher Education” in order to better network existing knowledge in Europe and to address current developments more quickly and in a more targeted manner. Since then, eight editions have been organized together with other national organizations from other countries.

The roundtable brings together experts from national projects, organizations, political bodies and universities. The aim is to learn from each other, share experiences and jointly develop impulses for solutions at a systemic level. So far, the focus has been on topics such as

• Digital sovereignty and secure infrastructure
• Dealing with AI in studies and teaching
• Monitoring and benchmarking concepts for higher education systems
• Interoperability and the role of European university alliances

Since the first meeting in September 2023, 48 representatives from over 20 universities, organizations and institutions have taken part. The results provide impetus for national strategies and European discussions – and show which (political) framework conditions, resources and networks are necessary to systematically and sustainably implement the digital transformation in the higher education sector.