11-11-2025 –, Plenaire zaal
Who is truly in the lead in digital transformation — and how does that differ across Europe? In this international panel, speakers from four national organisations — Sarah Knight from Jisc (UK), Hanna Nordlund from Digivisio (Finland), Oliver Janoschka from Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (Germany), and Christien Bok from SURF (Netherlands) — compare how governance, culture, and structure shape who takes responsibility for change.
Large, complex transitions often suffer from a paradox: everyone is responsible, yet no one feels ownership — and many may not even see themselves as “in the lead.” We’ll explore how national strategies connect with institutional realities, why promising pilots so often stall, and what it takes to create lasting change. We also discuss what kind of action participants can take to feel or be more in the lead.
Speakers
Sarah Knight is director of digital transformation in higher education at Jisc (UK). Her team supports universities with their digital transformation agenda. This includes working with senior leaders to support their use of Jisc’s framework and maturity model for digital transformation in higher education. Sarah has been working with Jisc for over 20 years and has led several large national transformation programmes.
Hanna Nordlund is Programme Director of Digivisio 2030, a joint programme of all Finnish HEIs whose aim is to create a future for learning that benefits higher education institutions, learners and our society as a whole. She has 10+ years of experience in leading digitalization programmes in education, healthcare and the social services sectors.
Oliver Janoschka is Managing Director of the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD). Before founding HFD, Janoschka worked in the field of higher education in various European Member States for more than seven years. He has a proven track record of facilitating international policy projects.
Christien Bok is Innovation manager of education at SURF. She aims to support collaboration between higher education institutions in the field of IT innovation in order to improve student success and the quality of education. She is an advocate for the protection of public values in education and research. Christien designed various national innovation programs, including the Acceleration Plan and Npuls and international collaborations, including with NRENs within GÉANT.
Moderator
Evelien Renders is adviser for international education at SURF. In her role she facilitates international collaboration and keeps track of international developments in student mobility and other logistical processes. She is also the President of EUNIS, the European community driving digital transformation in higher education and serves on the board of 1EdTech Europe.
