Digital Transformation as a University Governance Strategy: International Lessons and Implications for Vietnam

Abstract

Digital transformation has become an inevitable trend in higher education worldwide; however, in practice, it is often narrowly interpreted as technological investment or the digitization of existing processes. This paper approaches digital transformation as a university governance strategy, emphasizing that digital technologies can generate meaningful impact only when embedded within a clear developmental vision and accompanied by substantive governance reform. Drawing on theoretical frameworks and a synthesis of international scholarship, the paper clarifies the distinctions between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation, and argues that digital transformation constitutes a comprehensive process of restructuring organizational arrangements, operational processes, and decision-making mechanisms in higher education. Through a comparative analysis of experiences from European, East Asian, and Anglo-Saxon models, the paper demonstrates that there is no single, universal pathway to digital transformation. Instead, national approaches vary according to institutional contexts, resource endowments, and underlying development philosophies. Building on this comparative perspective, the paper examines key characteristics of Vietnam’s higher education system in the context of expanded institutional autonomy, persistent resource disparities, and growing quality pressures. It then proposes a set of policy and governance implications aimed at guiding digital transformation in Vietnamese higher education toward a more human-centered, sustainable, and socially responsible trajectory.

https://doi.org/10.26803/MyRes.2026.11