Governing Digital Platforms in European University Alliances: A Cross-Alliance Survey

11 pages•Published: June 18, 2026

Amparo Zamora-Mogollo, Francisca Martin-Vergara, Anna Moritz, Ignacio Moreno-Torres and Victoriano Giralt

Abstract

European University Alliances (EUAs) are expected to deliver cross-border digital services through shared digital platforms; yet, evidence on governance, architecture, and interoperability remains fragmented. We report a cross-sectional survey (29 Aug 2025-8 Jan 2026) with 38 responses covering 30 alliances (approx. 46% of EUAs), complemented by a light document review.
Most alliances are still consolidating platform strategy, relying heavily on institutional tools and favouring incremental integration over platform replacement. Learning management systems are a common anchor service (Moodle is the most frequently reported), while architectures tend to be distributed or hybrid rather than fully centralised. Key constraints include limited dedicated capacity, heterogeneous local IT landscapes and uneven interoperability maturity, with legal and data protection considerations frequently shaping implementation paths.
We translate these findings into governance-ready recommendations on decision rights, operating models, and compliance-aware interoperability baselines to help EUAs move from pilots to sustainable cross-border service delivery.

Keyphrases: cross border digital services, digital platforms, european university alliances (euas), identity and access management, interoperability, it governance, operating model

In: Laurence Desnos, Carmen Diaz, Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz, Lazaros Merakos, Raimund Vogl, Stuart McLellan and Ulrike Lucke (editors). Proceedings of EUNIS 2026 Annual Congress, vol 109, pages 24-34.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/Tnn9w
	https://doi.org/10.29007/f2l8

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{EUNIS2026:Governing_Digital_Platforms_European,
  author    = {Amparo Zamora-Mogollo and Francisca Martin-Vergara and Anna Moritz and Ignacio Moreno-Torres and Victoriano Giralt},
  title     = {Governing Digital Platforms in European University Alliances: A Cross-Alliance Survey},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of EUNIS 2026 Annual Congress},
  editor    = {Laurence Desnos and Carmen Diaz and Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Lazaros Merakos and Raimund Vogl and Stuart McLellan and Ulrike Lucke},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Computing},
  volume    = {109},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-7340},
  url       = {/publications/paper/Tnn9w},
  doi       = {10.29007/f2l8},
  pages     = {24-34},
  year      = {2026}}

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