In recent years, the digitisation of higher education has gained momentum, but higher education is still searching for the best way to utilise digital learning resources. It seems inevitable that digitisation will continue to play a role in the coming years. Digitisation offers various opportunities for higher education: it can be used to complement physical education, it opens up new possibilities for flexible education, it stimulates technological citizenship, it enables accessible and personal feedback, and it increases the accessibility of education. However, there are also concerns about increasing digitisation: a reduction in interaction, social bonding and the learning of social skills; the risk of reduced educational quality if used incorrectly; the inability to guarantee the security of personal data; and inequality of opportunity with regard to access to digital resources.

The ISO and the representative bodies at institutions are involved in discussions about the organisation of digital resources within higher education, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. It is paramount that digitisation does not become an end in itself, but rather contributes to good education. Online education should therefore never completely replace offline education, and digital education should under no circumstances be used as a cost-cutting measure. In addition, the ISO advocates for more national policy on digitisation within higher education and continued attention to student privacy.

The ISO is also closely involved in the plans and implementation of the Acceleration Plan and the Digitisation Impulse. These programmes are accelerating the introduction of various digitisation plans in higher education. Within the Acceleration Plan, the ISO sits on the steering group responsible for this, consisting of SURF, the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (VH), Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) and the Ministry of Education. The ISO supervises the quality of education in this regard.