<< Background >>During the pandemic period, higher education institutions have increased the use of digitally enhanced learning and teaching methods, appreciating their potential. So in the post-pandemic era, blended and hybrid learning approaches are expected to become more widely used. Given this trend, there is a growing concern regarding the impact of this accelerated transformation on the quality of provided education. The digital readiness levels of individual instructors, for example, the degree of online teaching pedagogy knowledge, need to be assessed. Taking into account these concerns, the digital readiness of higher education institutions, and its systematic measurement becomes very important. ---The DigiReady+ project aims at defining a digital readiness framework and developing relevant tools that allow digital readiness measurement. We plan to perform a feasibility study across three European universities, of different levels of digital readiness, during which we will implement the framework and use the tool. An important aspect of the proposed framework is that it will be grounded on data produced during the online teaching and learning activities, then applying learning and institutional analytics methods and tools, in order to validate its effectiveness and increase its objectivity. Through the study, we aim at validating this data-driven framework demonstrating its effectiveness in obtaining an objective measurement of digital readiness, as well as recommendations for appropriate actions for different stakeholders. The ultimate objective is to integrate the DigiReady+ framework into the quality assurance processes of the European higher education institutions.---The motivation of this project is based on the following observations:(a) On one hand, digital readiness, an index measuring the capacity of an individual or an organization to leverage the digital learning potential and to adapt to the new condition, needs to be monitored at different levels (instructor, curriculum, institution), so that appropriate actions to be taken accordingly. So there is an urgent need, existing frameworks, measuring the digital competence and digital readiness of learning institutions, to be adapted and operationalized by the European tertiary education sector. After studying existing frameworks, however, we observe that most of them are implemented in the form of self-assessment questionnaires, that have a strong subjective character.(b) On the other hand, a side effect of digital transformation is that a growing amount of data is collected, related to teaching and learning activities. This is because interactions between learners and between learners and tutors take place more and more through digital media, thus generating traces, while more teaching and instructional content is in digital form and learners' interactions with it are logged. Leveraging on these data for understanding the process and measuring performance has increased the potential of the field of learning and institutional analytics. In particular, learning analytics is intended to enhance or improve learning and student achievements while institutional analytics, is intended to improve services and practices across the institution. Both forms have for long been advocated as important ways for improving higher education capacity. ---DigiReady+ is innovative, as it combines existing self-reflection tools with evidence-based measurement of digital readiness. The project exploits the developed synergies and complementary profiles among its consortium members that include three Higher Educational Institutions across Europe (University of Patras, Greece, Universidad Valladolid, Spain, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany), EDEN, the European Distance and E-Learning Network, a non-profitable organization with over 180 institutional members, and the Greek Universities Network (GUNET) representing 25 Greek HEIs.<< Objectives >>The aim of DigiReady+ is to define a framework and develop a prototype, in the form of a web tool that would connect to the learning management systems and other institutional informational systems, in order to measure digital readiness indicators for the particular higher education institution. These indicators will be measured on one hand, through questionnaires that will allow stakeholders to describe the readiness of the organization (self-reflection tools) and on the other hand, by collecting relevant measures of the learning activities from the organization's information systems. Thus a triangulation of the claims of the stakeholders will be performed through the collected factual information. The DigiReady+ framework and tool are also enhanced with a knowledge repository containing theory and examples on effective digitally enhanced learning and teaching in higher education. These will be used to allow the instrument to produce recommendations for improving the digital capacity of the organization, given the digital readiness level. The ultimate objective is, once the DifiReady+ framework and tool have been validated and their effectiveness in measuring digital readiness and provision of recommendations is proved, to propose their integration in the quality assurance of European higher education institutions.<< Implementation >>In order to achieve the objectives of the project, we plan to implement the following activities: -- First, we define the DigiReady framework using as a background, existing self-reflection instruments that have been defined and used over the last few years, then mapping their indicators to data that can be found in the organization's information systems, like the learning management system. -- Second to validate the framework in the three higher education institutions while implementing it in the form of a web application, and defining an Application Programmers Interface (API) that can be used by interested HEIs for connecting the tool to their own information systems. -- We will also demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework and tool by implementing a connector using the API, to Open-eclass, the learning management system of most Greek universities. -- Third, we will develop a knowledge repository that we will connect to the DigiReady+ tool, in order to provide a constructive recommendation to interested organizations, given their measured level of digital readiness. -- Finally, we will run a study on the effectiveness of the DigiReady+ approach which will involve associate partners, universities beyond the project partners. These will be recruited, following a campaign, and will be asked to participate in the multiplier events and workshops. The results of this large-scale validation study, involving other universities, will be used in the final report, which will contain a proposal for integrating the framework in the quality assurance process of European universities.<< Results >>The expected impact of the results of the project is as follows: 1. The DigiReady+ tool, in the form of an institutional dashboard of digital readiness, can be used by HEI’s stakeholders, e.g. policymakers, administration councils, faculty, and degree committees, to provide information regarding potential issues and risks in the process of designing from scratch or adapting existing curricula to meet the needs of transitioning to digitally enhanced learning and teaching. Thus, institutional stakeholders will be able to follow an evidence-based structured approach regarding the assessment of digital readiness and take the most appropriate decisions especially during the relevant, demanding, and critical transition period, as shown by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.2. The learning analytics infrastructure for supporting HEI’s students at risk of dropping out or failing their studies will provide data-based insights to policymakers with respect to strategic planning. Furthermore, it will offer feedback to students and instructors with respect to the prioritization of study aspects crucial in online learning, such as acquiring self-regulation skills, sustaining motivation, and empowering the feeling of belonging to an academic community.3. The DigiReady+ Open-source Tool and the related Application Programming Interfaces (API) provided by the project will allow, if necessary, the interested HEIs to further expand and customize the use of the framework and the associated analytics to their own needs and special conditions. The flexibility and open nature of this instrument will increase the chances of a sustainable adoption and a significant impact on the HEI practices.4. The Knowledge Repository will enable all stakeholders to take advantage of best practices, training materials, datasets, etc. developed throughout the project. It will also allow stakeholders of the participating organizations and other interested HEIs to further enrich such knowledge based on the use of the framework and the associated set of indicators and the toolkit in new scenarios, during and even beyond the project timeline. Such benefits will be especially relevant for stakeholders engaged via DigiReady+ dissemination and outreach activities.