Online administrative procedures in European policy documents
The different digitalisation initiatives in this knowledge base are part of an effort to modernise European Higher Education by digitalising processes. At the European level these efforts are grouped under the European Student Card Initiative aiming to improve authentication and registration for students who aim to study abroad. The European Student Card Initiative is one of the core initiatives in the vision to create a European Education Area by 2025.
The European Student Card Initiative and its underlying projects are mentioned in several key European policy documents that came out during the last couple of years:
- Communication about the European Education Area, (September 2020) see pp. 21-22;
- Communication about the Digital Education Action Plan (September 2020), see p. 17;
- Communication about the renewed EU agenda for higher education (May 2017), see p. 11;
It goes without saying that Higher Education Institutions throughout Europe are expected to join these efforts and to support the digitalisation processes.
Online administrative procedures in the new Erasmus Programme
Digitalisation of the administrative procedures is one of the important priorities of the new Erasmus Programme.
The programme guide makes clear that all HEI participating in Erasmus Mobilities should implement the digital:
As announced in 2019 and confirmed with the new Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) 2021-2027 and its associated implementation guidelines, accredited higher education institutions commit to implement digital management of their student mobility in line with the standards of the European Student Card Initiative. In line with the objectives of the European Student Card Initiative, the Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) Network ensures that any higher education institution can connect to the network and seamlessly share data with their partners to facilitate digital Erasmus+ administrative processes, including signing digital Inter-Institutional Agreements and Online Learning Agreements.
to gain efficiency gains and improve existing procedures, while also allowing for new and exciting possibilities by interconnected IT systems. In the following you will find information on how Erasmus Without Paper can be taken into consideration in your internationalisation strategy and the policy background of the European Commission.
Policy Background - Digitisation in Erasmus+ mobility management by Valère Meus
Digitising Erasmus: no more paperwork by Stefan Jahnke et al. (Linkedin)