The SURF cooperative
SURF is a cooperative association of Dutch educational and research institutions in which its members join forces. The members are the owners of SURF.
Driving innovation together
Driving innovation together. That is the mission of SURF. Together with the institutions, we ensure that the education and research community has access to the finest and newest IT facilities for top research and talent development.
Within SURF, universities, universities of applied science, senior secondary vocational institutions (MBO), UMCs and research institutions work together to purchase or develop the best possible digital services and to stimulate knowledge sharing by continuing to innovate.
Better and more flexible education and research
Lifelong learning and more flexible education are trends that place new demands on the interpretation of education. IT provides solutions to make this possible. Within SURF, we are working on improving access to more diverse learning materials and better insight into study data.
Researchers generate more and more diverse data, or use existing (open) data. In order to give meaning to that data, you need unlimited and user-friendly access to secure and well-integrated data, computing and network facilities.
This is how we work together to make better education and research possible.
Working together and joining forces
Education and research institutions join forces within SURF. Joint tenders provide students, teachers and researchers with the best possible IT facilities under favourable conditions.
SURF challenges the market to develop new services for education and research. Together with the institutions, SURF develops, innovates and operates an advanced federated digital infrastructure as well as other IT services. Knowledge exchange related to IT issues is the central focus.
Coöperatie SURF U.A
SURF is a cooperative. The members are the owners of SURF. The full name of SURF is Coöperatie SURF U.A. The letters U.A. stand for Uitgesloten Aansprakelijkheid, the Dutch for Excluded Liability. This means that the members (the institutions) will not be held liable for any losses incurred by SURF.
Strategy
Read more about our strategy for 2022-2027.