Building It Ourselves: Reflections on the Agora [Zukunft] Hochschulforum Digitalisierung

I took part in the Agora [Zukunft] of the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung. It was an intense program, full of stimulating discussions with colleagues from across the higher education landscape.

In our working group, we focused on one central question:
How can universities create services that truly fit their needs, while at the same time reducing the uncertainties that come with AI technologies for all members of the university community?

Our conversations quickly showed that there is no single, ready-made solution. Instead, we identified a set of directions:

  • build up competencies,
  • create room for experimentation,
  • allow mistakes and foster an open error culture,
  • loosen regulation and widen discretion.

These ideas connect closely with broader changes that universities already face: making study regulations more flexible to enable lifelong learning, strengthening exchange between institutions, and deepening cooperation with external partners, including companies in teaching.

One concrete measure stood out to me: enabling university staff to share their expertise more easily at other universities within the same state (Bundesland) — through workshops, courses, talks, and similar activities. Crucially, if funds are available, this should not be treated as “already covered” by their base salary. The additional effort deserves recognition and, where possible, honoraria — just as it would be if the person came from another state or country. This is not only fair, but also a strong signal of the value of their expertise.

Other ideas (some of which are already in place at certain universities) included providing seed grants, allowing “island solutions” to develop and then consolidating them properly, and establishing competence centers where teaching staff, students, and administration can jointly experiment with process innovations — for example in the form of AI or software forges.

Conclusion. Don’t wait for ready-made solutions — enabling often just means giving people the space to build them themselves.