Lodewijk Asscher appointed chairman Digital Transformation Impulse for Education

Highly committed

The nomination committee proposed Asscher as a candidate for the presidency to minister Dijkgraaf. The minister has agreed to this proposal. The committee welcomes the new chairman. Asscher's very committed way of talking about connecting all sectors in education, especially secondary vocational education and higher education, has convinced them of his enthusiasm. With his passion for education, his substantive knowledge and ability to connect, he is an asset to the programme.

About his work for the Digital Transformation Impulse for Education, Asscher said:

Asscher will start on 1 January 2023 and will be involved in building the programme. As chairman, he will appoint the other members of the steering committee, who will be nominated by MBO Raad, Vereniging Hogescholen and Universities of the Netherlands. SURF will also have a seat on the steering committee. In addition, Asscher will play a role in the selection of the programme's director.

About Lodewijk Asscher

Dr Lodewijk Asscher (Amsterdam, 1974) has been a partner at consultancy firm Van de Bunt since March 2022 and chairman of the Efficiency Task Force at the Collaboration Organisation for Vocational Education and Training Industry. Before that, he was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives for the PvdA from 2017 to 2021. From 2012 to 2017, Mr Asscher was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Rutte II cabinet. In 2006-2012, he was alderman of Amsterdam (in charge of finance, education and youth policy since 2010).

Digital Transformation Impulse for Education

Digital Transformation Impulse for Education is an eight-year programme to improve education in mbo, hbo and wo by making even better use of the opportunities of cooperation and digitalisation. All public mbo institutions, universities of applied sciences and universities participate.

The programme has three main ambitions:

•     Improving the quality of education;
•     Increase the adaptivity of education;
•     Improve the functional and critical digital skills of learners and teachers.

The programme is funded by National Growth Fund monies. In April 2022, 560 million was allocated for the Digital Transformation Impulse for Education.

Want to know more? Visit digitaliseringsimpuls.nl.