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Think tanking for Digital Transition: discussing an urgent topic with fellow board members
Four board members kicked off the first edition of the Digital Transition Think Tank: Pauline Satter (COG), Hans Nederlof (De Haagse), Mirjam Koster (Graafschap College) and Peter Paul Verbeek (UvA). From Summit to Summit, the think tank meets three times for indepth discussions on a pressing thema. For 2024-2025, AI is the topic. Board members contribute to the topic and get something out of it too.
The four board members are hoping for many applications from fellow administrators. Expertise within the subject is not necessary. It is about involvement, sharing knowledge and exchanging experiences.
New form of cooperation
The Digital Transition Think Tank is coordinated by SURF. Within the cooperative, board members expressed the need to have strategic content discussions on predetermined topics. "We fleshed out that need," says Ron Augustus, SURF's Chief Innovation Officer (CINO). "To ensure that content and technology reinforce each other, new forms of collaboration are needed. The Digital Transition Think Tank responds to this. "In the think tank, we explore a topical theme that’s at the forefront of new developments.”
This is what you can expect
Satter, Nederlof, Koster and Verbeek explain why they think it is important to have this think tank and what you can expect as a participant.
Pauline Satter, board member of Christelijke Onderwijs Groep Vallei & Gelderland-Midden and chair of MBO Digital:
"You can talk about AI in education in lots of places. The very fact that we are now doing it in a cooperative context is a different conversation.
As a result, I don't have to think for a moment about whether there is a commercial interest involved, for example. And I can openly express that I sometimes feel I am being overtaken on all sides. After all, students and pupils are already doing so much with AI. In the think tank, as fellow board members, we can increase our knowledge, think and reflect.
We are part of the same cooperative and the topic affects us all. I grant us a collective moment to sink into such a topic and look at it together in peace, without any objective behind it. The think tank's idea is to make a map with all the ongoing initiatives. That gives an overview.
Once you have a picture of what is currently going on, you sharpen your own vision as a board member, both in the three meetings and from new connections. We can use this again in our conversation about the direction of our cooperative."
Setting a firm course together
Hans Nederlof, Board member of The Hague University of Applied Sciences:
"The think tank is not only a place for inspiration, but also a social construct: a newly composed group of board members who feel better connected with each other again, and with SURF.
I would like it if the people who belong to this club are also happy to belong. Contrary to what the word 'think tank' implies, you really don't have to be an expert. The input we ask for could be, for example, sharing experiences with other board members and learning from each other.
Regardless of the topic, I think public values should always be high on the think tank's agenda. So this year that means: public values as a measuring stick alongside AI. It would be great if, during the SURF Summit 2025, we have created more understanding and direction. What can we do with AI, what do we want with it and what should we do with it? After all, many board members struggle with AI.
In the think tank, we as institutions can now make our contribution strategically meaningful. It means that afterwards, we as SURF-because that's what we are together-can set a firm course."
Protecting public values
Mirjam Koster, chair of the Graafschap College Board of Governors:
"Given the developments of AI and how it affects us, we cannot wait for legislation or rules. That is why we are now jointly taking responsibility.
As institutions, we are already united in the SURF cooperative. But if we are to be stronger and smarter together too, we need to plan something. The think tank is focused on bringing together perspectives, rather than providing all kinds of bite-sized solutions and answers. Of course, we are not starting from scratch, as there are already many initiatives around AI. This allows the think tank to grow into a learning network where we collectively are think tanking.
You don't just come to refuel yourself with information, you also put something in the tank. What you bring is your perspective as a board member. Either from your regional or national assignment, or from your portfolio, or because you have knowledge of operations or, on the contrary, of education or research. All those perspectives are needed to strengthen the cooperative idea and discover where public values might be touched and where we need to protect them."
The moment when participation has an impact
Peter-Paul Verbeek, rector magnificus and member of the Executive Board of the University of Amsterdam:
"Now is the time when thinking about AI has a real impact. It is a unique opportunity in time; everything is still fluid.
In the think tank, we are working towards insights that will allow both SURF and member institutions to make choices about the procurement and responsible use of AI. The result could, for example, be a framework within which just the right questions are asked. Then I think we have come a very long way.
Digital sovereignty is an important issue for me, but so is intellectual property. Do we really want to 'give away' our search prompts to suppliers of AI? And do we really want medical data to become part of research via a smartwatch?
Digital technology has long since ceased to be just a convenient tool. It increasingly determines how we do things: how we conduct research, how we teach, how we connect with society. We are still fine-tuning that. In doing so, we are giving a decisive direction to how we deal with that technology in the Netherlands."
Text: Maureen van Althuis
Join the Digital Transition Think Tank!
Are you a board member of one of SURF's members? Do you see the added value of working together? And are you available to participate live in the meetings? The dates are 3 March, 7 July and 24 September. Contact Ron Augustus for the first Digital Transition Think Tank, a deep dive into the pressing topic of AI between Summit 2024 and Summit 2025.
'Think tanking for Digital Transition: discussing an urgent topic with fellow board members' is an article from SURF Magazine.
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