Insight in the workplace: the Tech Trends report in practice
The 2nd edition of the Tech Trends report has been released! With 50 trends in 10 chapters, compiled by over 30 professionals from the institutions and the SURF organisation. The report is a guide for everyone working in Dutch education and research.
There is no escaping the current tech trends: we are all being swept along by the digital transition sweeping the world. But if you know the currents, you can surf the wave. This is as true for teachers and researchers as it is for CIOs and administrators.
A clever layout of the Tech Trends report allows you to find exactly what's relevant to you: for instance, executives see an overview of what's coming at them, while tech-savvy people can go in-depth, thanks in part to the extensive source references.
We asked three professionals what the value of the Tech Trends report is in their daily practice.
Arlène Denissen, Avans University of Applied Sciences
Linking trends with public values
Arlène Denissen is a member of the board of Avans University of Applied Sciences and uses the Tech Trends report strategically within her institution. What strikes her about the report? The focus on public values and the huge confluence of knowledge across the full breadth of mbo, hbo, wo, umc and research.
"What I find strong about this report is the link to public values. Because big challenges are coming our way. But I think the biggest challenge will be how, with all the technology, we remain human. How do we keep people central? The Tech Trends report addresses that. It lays the foundation for a broader and more strategic conversation than when it's just about technology. I expect trends such as AI, data and immersive learning to fundamentally change education and research: from how we learn and test to how we collaborate in research. But in doing so, we must remain mindful of public values."
"The biggest challenge will be how we remain human with all the technology. How do we keep people central?"
"Within Avans, we use the Tech Trends report as a compass when making choices about the digitisation of education, the use of AI and data, and the way we organise our digital infrastructure. We can also pick up innovations more easily with other institutions in a broader context, for example, because we can now see what we are working on together."
The vast amount of knowledge within the cooperative
"Within the cooperative we have a huge crowd of experts; together we have a huge amount of knowledge. It is good that we show that we have this in-house and can pool it. As managers, we have to keep looking critically at ourselves: can we ask the questions needed to make this transformation happen? Can we sufficiently understand how working and working together are really going to change in the future? We choose to accelerate - with guts and humanity - because the world is moving at lightning speed."
Compilation of the report: the co-creation process
Anna Gerasymenko, Data & Security Advisor at the Leiden Learning & Innovation Center at Leiden University, is co-author of the Tech Trends Report chapter on Cybersecurity. She wishes for decision makers at every level to strategically prepare for cybersecurity in advance, instead of catching up.
“We need to create an environment that is human centered. SURF is doing a good job in this. Technology is shaping us, but we are also shaping technology. There is this immense digital data driven space that we now must navigate. Questions arise on how to assure that you have protection for humans and for data."
"We back scaled on what, to us, is most important and applicable to Dutch education and research."
"Cybersecurity is an emerging complex multilayered field. Our group of co-authors comprised five security experts throughout the sectors and the landscape of information and cybersecurity. We brought different approaches resulting in interesting discussions. We started with a lot of open conversations, blurting out all the trends and developments that we thought were significant. We back scaled on what to us is most important and applicable to Dutch education and research listing 10 trends. We shared our shortlist with SURF experts and the SCIRP and SCIRT communities."
Cybersecurity is a strategic priority
"Eventually we ended up with a short-list of 5 trends that not only spotlight key developments in cybersecurity technologies, but also explore how broader tech developments – such as AI and quantum computing – are (re)shaping the domain/cybersecurity landscape/field of practice."
The SURF Tech Trends report with 50 trends in 10 chapters.
"The key call to action from our chapter is that cybersecurity is not an afterthought anymore, but a strategic priority. Our reliance on digital systems is growing rapidly, within an increasingly complex digital environment. We must collectively consider: how can we protect our people, systems and data in the context of any new technology?”
Mert Alberts, Twente University
Anticipating what is coming our way
Mert Alberts, CIO at Twente University, acted as reviewer of the Tech Trends report. He praised the popular science style of the report, which made it no punishment to read through all 200 pages of the report. Not even during his holiday.
"If you talk about the concept of valorisation, the Tech Trends report is a very good example of this. Sharing knowledge is part of what we do as educational and research institutions. And with all that knowledge we have together with all our institutions, we can achieve a lot. I think this collectivity is extremely important and so is SURF's role in it."
Discussion: what should we focus on?
"In our role as CIOs, we need to anticipate what is coming our way. If you have to draw up a multi-year strategy around digitisation, you read your journals and hear your colleagues about what's going on, but the trend report is a welcome addition to that. I use it within my own Library, ICT Services & Archive (LISA) department at Twente University to discuss what we should focus on in the coming years.
You see the trends coming your way, but what do they mean for the institution as a whole - for education and research - on the one hand, and for the support services and operations on the other? The Tech Trends report helps you see the common thread more clearly."
"The Tech Trends report is high-level and thorough. A pleasure to read."
"And where on the one hand you have the internal conversation with your professionals, on the other hand you have the alignment with the board. Then the report is a great tool to raise issues at that level too. It's written in such a way that you don't necessarily need to be tech-savvy to understand it. But nevertheless, I think the Tech Trends report is also of a high standard in terms of content. It is thoroughly laid out, with extensive source references, and clearly summarised. A pleasure to read."
Text: Maureen van Althuis
Visuals Tech Trends 2026: AI images edited by Vrije Stijl
As a cooperative of education and research institutions, SURF helps its members look ahead to technological developments and the context in which they take place. This report offers insights into opportunities, risks and public values. As such, it is both a source of inspiration and a strategic tool for anyone within the sector giving direction to the digital future.