# Assessing Digital Transformation in Universities
## 1 Introduction  
In the knowledge era, it is ever more important to understand the value that information technology (IT) initiatives may bring to organizations. Some industries have been severely reshaped as a consequence of the introduction of value added to products and services through technology applications. Such is the case for the entertainment industry, especially in the form of downloadable on-demand products based on subscription models, rather than the direct purchase of physical means for reproduction. Rationalized and flexible manufacturing with enhanced logistics services have also played a major role in the competitive arena for heavy production industries. IT has also enabled integrated value chains and personalized products and services. As we move deeper into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, emerging and disruptive technologies like the Internet of things (IoT), three-dimensional printing, big data and analytics, machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence, and cyber-physical systems increase their impact on the creation of streamlined, flexible processes and innovative business models.  
Many terms have been used and have evolved to describe this value provision evaluation, from IT maturity to digital transformation along with e-readiness. However, the evolution has been slow, starting with simple studies on the profitability of establishing an IT infrastructure and moving all the way to the concept of digital transformation.  
This phenomenon has been somewhat slower with regard to universities, as traditional education has been favored by professors, at least before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to recognize that blended-learning models and online education have already experienced a great deal of evolution since the inception of these schemes a few decades back, but their level of appropriation varies greatly from one institution to another.  
This research seeks to review the most important models that have emerged and evolved to the present day in the business and organizational arenas, now that we areimmersed in the realm of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. Considering the premise that universities and higher education institutions are organizations as well, the model should fit them correctly when providing the appropriate contextualization. An integrated digital transformation model is proposed, and an instrument to assess its state in a particular organization is applied to some universities. Measuring its level of maturity would first provide a higher-education institution with a comprehensive view of where they stand on the road to digital transformation, as well as the necessary steps to follow in order to better profit from the intelligent use of IT that takes into consideration the opportunities and challenges of a dynamic competitive environment. This roadmap to digital transformation has the ability to help them plan pertinent actions to incrementally climb to higher levels of maturity and IT leverage and to achieve their organizational objectives.  
The particular nuances that need to be addressed in an educational environment, particularly for higher education, are then identified and discussed.