More cooperation = more opportunities? HEI's strategies for ensuring digital sovereignty

With the increasing use of artificial intelligence, safeguarding digital sovereignty at universities is becoming ever more strategically important. In this context, digital service units (e.g. data centers, IT services, centers for e-learning) are at the heart of institutional implementation processes, as they are responsible for the operation of the technical infrastructure, media-based pedagogical support and the operational implementation of decisions. The interview-based analysis of these organizational units revealed that they shape the safeguarding of digital sovereignty through strategies such as cooperation and networking, building up their own resources, and internal adaptation.