14 Technology Predictions for Higher Education in 2023
How will technologies and practices like artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, digital transformation, and change management impact colleges and universities this year? Here's what the experts told us.
In an open call on LinkedIn, we asked higher education and ed tech industry leaders to forecast the most important trends to watch in the coming year. Their responses reflect both the challenges on the horizon — persistent cyber attacks, the disruptive force of emerging technologies, failures in project management — as well as the opportunities that technology brings to better serve students and support the institutional mission. Here are 14 predictions to help steer your technology efforts in 2023.
1) Cybersecurity challenges will require critical culture change.
"Cybersecurity is going to remain at the forefront of priorities for all higher education institutions. We will be involved in updating processes and assuring compliance to protect our institutions against threats and vulnerabilities. This is especially challenging on several levels: First, our user community will be accessing services from not only the physical campus but more frequently from off campus as well. It is extremely important to change the culture of the community to foster greater awareness. Second, we are doing more with less, which makes it difficult to implement cybersecurity processes and technologies with the limited staff and financial resources available to us. Finally, decision-making and policies need to be more focused and timely in order to alleviate any risk of cybersecurity attacks. We are beginning to see the shift and the campus culture is adapting to new policies (e.g. multi-factor authentication, turning off their machines to receive updates, etc.); however, ongoing communication and training is a key component to maintaining the campus commitment to cybersecurity awareness." — Patricia Kahn, assistant vice president and CIO for Information Technology Services, College of Staten Island, The City University of New York
"Last year, more than 1,000 schools in the United States fell victim to ransomware attacks. In 2023, state and private institutions will continue to face the same challenges as there are a handful of security gaps most education institutions face that make them more vulnerable to cyber attacks. A lack of cybersecurity awareness and training as well as limited funding and resources are creating the ideal environment for criminals to gain access to substantial amounts of personal student data or research data. Institutions continue to be a popular target for ransomware attacks, as adversaries know schools only have a short window to update processes and get in front of risks (during the summer closures), making it harder to keep pace with updated security technologies and easier for cybercriminal groups to gain access to these networks and wreak havoc." — Rick McElroy, principal cybersecurity strategist, VMware
2) Artificial intelligence will drive a more personalized student experience.
"I predict that institutions will further utilize machine learning models to identify moments when students require just-in-time interventions to support them during their learning journey. Institutions will build a more robust data-driven culture where decisions are made by the precise analysis of various collected data points to gain insight and make informed decisions about complex student issues. A proactive data approach will lead to more successful outcomes and empower our students by providing essential tools and personalization to set them up for success." — David Morales, CIO and senior vice president of technology, Western Governors University