Digital sovereignty based on public values
In 2025, we are organising two training courses 'Digital Sovereignty based on Public Values' for board members and directors in education and research. The training courses offer practical tools and insights to strengthen digital autonomy within your institution and engage with fellow board members.
- Utrecht
What does digital sovereignty mean in practice? How do you get a better grip on your digital environment within our institution and in that of the sector? Which components deserve priority, and how do you deal with the challenges you face as a board member or director? These questions are at the heart of SURF's new course.
The training course is part of the Innovation Zone Common Digital Sovereignty that we have started together with our members.
Who are the learning courses for?
The training courses are divided into a half-day session for board members of universities, universities of applied sciences, UMCs, libraries, MBO and research institutions and a half-day session for directors, CSCs and CIOs of these institutions.
The training course consist of six meetings including lunch and can accommodate up to 25 participants per half-day session.
No specific prior knowledge is required to participate. We warmly invite previous participants of the SURF training course 'Working on values in digitisation' (2022) and the seminar series 'Values, what are they worth?' (2021) to participate in the 2025 edition.
Why participate?
Digitisation poses major challenges for organisations. How do you maintain control over technologies from dominant market players such as Microsoft, OpenAI or Adobe? What alternatives are there? And how do you integrate digital sovereignty into your strategy? That is what we address in this training course.
During the course, you will get:
- insights into geopolitical and technological developments
- practical solutions for bottlenecks
- tools for having conversations with stakeholders inside and outside your organisation
Topics and speakers
Topics include:
- Geopolitics and data autonomy
- The role of Big Tech and open source
- Laws and regulations, such as the AI Act
- Security, sustainability and procurement strategies
Inspirational speakers from public, private and civil society organisations, including Kees Verhoeven (Bureau Digitale Zaken), Frank Karlitcheck (CEO NextCloud), and Maaike Okano-Heijmans (Clingendael Institute), will share their expertise.
Practical information
Costs
750 euro for the full series
Data
Session 1 - Friday 31 Jan 2025
Session 2 - Friday 28 Feb 2025
Session 3 - Friday 21 Mar 2025
Session 4 - Friday 25 Apr 2025
Session 5 - Friday 23 May 2025
Session 6 - Friday 20 Jun 2025
- Half-day session for directors: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Half-day session for board members: 13:30 to 16:30.
- Joint closing session on 20 June 2025.
Location
SURF office in Utrecht, Moreelsepark 48, within walking distance from Utrecht Central Station.
Register
You can register until 1 December 2024 via the link below.
More information
If you have additional questions, please contact Wladimir Mufty.
Sign up now Digital sovereignty based on public values
- Utrecht