2021 Top IT Issues

Top IT Issues, 2021: Emerging from the Pandemic

The EDUCAUSE Top IT Issues list has been refactored for 2021 to help higher education shape the role technology will play in the recovery from the pandemic. What different directions might institutional leaders take in their recovery strategy? How can technology help our ecosystem emerge stronger and fitter for the future?

The 2021 EDUCAUSE IT Issues project explores these questions using a very different approach from previous years. Anticipating potential ways institutions might emerge from the pandemic, this year we offer three Top IT Issues lists and examine the top 5 issues within three scenarios that may guide institutional leaders’ use of technology: restore, evolve, and transform.

 

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Infographic

Restore: Extinction Event?

The institutions at greatest financial risk may also be those whose students are struggling the most. The Restore theme is a story of institutional survival focused on restoring the institution's pre-pandemic financial health.

Evolve: Adaptive Evolution to Meet Post-Pandemic Students Where They Are

The set of Evolve issues describes a student-centric institution that is managing its primary risks. These are institutions that will choose to incorporate the impact and lessons of the pandemic into their culture and vision.

Transform: Epigenetic Change Fueled by Technology

Some institutions plan to use the pandemic to launch or accelerate an institutional transformation agenda. Institutions focused on these issues are starting with culture. Technology issues are heavily represented in the Transform theme but always in the context of technology's role and relationship with institutional priorities and ambitions.

How to Approach the Findings

While the issues in the Restore and Evolve scenarios overlap considerably, the issues in the Transform scenario are almost entirely unique. Very few institutions will see themselves within a single scenario, and you will most probably find yours across two or all three of them. Consider the issues that best describe the approach you think your institution might likely take to shape its post-pandemic future, and then ask how the future might turn out differently if your institution took one of the other approaches.

"Technology strategy is consequential, and can hinder, support or accelerate institutional ambitions. In 2021, higher education leaders will be making some of their most critical decisions ever. Those leaders should be explicit and intentional about how technology will help them restore, evolve, or transform the institution in the post-COVID-19 era."

—Susan Grajek, Vice President, Partnerships, Communities and Research, EDUCAUSE

A Quick Visual Tour

View the video summary before taking a deeper dive into the other resources available.

 

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How the Top IT Issues Are Selected

A list of nineteen issues—developed by an expert panel composed of IT and non-IT leaders, CIOs, and faculty members—is voted on by EDUCAUSE members in an annual survey. The resulting Top IT Issues list is thus created by the community for the community.