Key points from the SURF Members' Council of 12 April

At the Members' Council on 12 April, discussions included the member satisfaction survey, the trend report and innovation at SURF. For the Npuls programme, a Members' Council committee was set up to discuss SURF's share in more detail with the Executive Board. You can read more about the main points in this post.

The following topics were discussed with the Members' Council:

Member satisfaction survey 2022

SURF commissioned a member satisfaction survey among directors and coordinating SURF contact persons (CSC) of members in the autumn of 2022. The aim was to map members' experiences, satisfaction and involvement. The survey showed that the perception of SURF is generally positive. People are satisfied with cooperation, services, contact and information provision. SURF's three roles (association, service provider and innovation workshop) are also clearly evident.

Regarding the innovation workshop, there is room for better provision of information on what SURF is undertaking in this area for and with the members. This will be started in this meeting, with a presentation by the CINO on innovation at SURF.

Membership application

SURF received new applications for membership from three new mbo institutions: De Rooi Pannen, Leidse instrumentenmakers School and Zone College. A fourth application is from KPZ, a university of applied sciences. During the Members' Council, the applications were approved.

Research SURFsoc/SIEM service

Since April 2021, SURFsoc's security operations centre (SOC) service has been available to SURF members. The SOC's Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system monitors cyber threats and potential attacks on institutions' infrastructure. An independent study, commissioned by SURF, identified a number of areas of concern. These points were discussed at the Members' Council. It was also explained how SURF, in consultation with the supplier and the user institutions, is working to optimise its services.

Trend report

On 15 February 2023, SURF published the Tech Trend Report. This report tells you more about technological developments and their (possible) impact on education and research. It also gives an overview of signals and trends from a technology perspective, and lists examples of how technology is developing. This way, you will find out more about how these can be relevant and applicable within education and research. The report aims to enable members to make considerations about the use of new technology in their own institution and the sector. The report also provides inspiration for developing a long-term strategy for administrators, CSCs and other stakeholders at members.

Fulfilling the role of innovation workshop

CSCs and directors would like more insight into SURF's role as an innovation workshop. During the Members' Council, Ron Augustus from the Executive Board explained innovation at SURF and its relationship with the SURF Strategy 2022-2027, the distribution of available resources and the involvement of members.

In the strategy, four innovation zones have been developed for both education and research. There are also cross-domain innovation zones that apply to both research and education. During the Members' Council, it was approved that the four education innovation zones will be implemented under the direction of the Npuls programme. It was also decided that an exploration can be started for the topic 'Public Values', which could possibly lead to an innovation zone in due course. Additionally, the content of the roadmap 'Efficient use of infrastructure and applications' was approved.

Npuls update

Permission has been sought from OCW to extend phase 0 until 30 June 2023. This extension allows more time for the governance issue, which is complex and graduated for this programme. This has to do with the special position of SURF on the one hand and the coordination between EZK and OCW, OCW and the sector and partners within the sector on the other.

Meanwhile, Berent Daan started as programme director and Lodewijk Asscher as chair of the steering committee. In the steering group, in addition to Lodewijk Asscher (chair), Oege de Jong (as replacement for Bert Beun) on behalf of the MBO Council, Mirjam Koster on behalf of the MBO Council, Timo Kos on behalf of the VH, Luc Verburgh (who will be leaving the hbo and will be replaced) on behalf of the VH, Arthur Mol on behalf of UNL, Peter-Paul Verbeek on behalf of UNL and Jet de Ranitz on behalf of SURF.

A covenant will be concluded between partners in the programme, including on SURF's penmanship. With a Members' Council committee to be set up, the BoD will discuss the details so that it can be presented to the Members' Council in June 2023.

Changes in the Members' Council

A vacancy arose in the MBO section as of 1 March due to Gerry Geitz's retirement from Noorderpoort. Frits Gronsveld (STC) is also leaving the Members' Council. The MBO Council nominates new members.