Governance of the Digital Transformation in Moroccan Universities: Case Study of Cadi Ayyad University-Marrakech

Abstract

For the past few years, digital transformation, digital revolution, and technological upheaval have become the main keywords in the management of all types of organizations. The current crisis of the Covid-19 has increased the interest of managers and decision makers for digital transformation, especially in public administrations and institutions. This strategic and operational dimension of digital requires good governance to ensure this transition achieves the desired objectives. At this point, we would like to remind you that governance is the set of best practices to be implemented by all the stakeholders of a company to ensure that the company's information system complies with regulations and, above all, that it performs well in terms of value creation. This paper aims to understand the governance of the digital transformation of Moroccan universities by relying on the results of a qualitative study conducted among the actors of Cadi Ayyad University as a unit of our analysis. By relying on an inductive approach through semi-structured interviews with decision-makers at the university and institutions, managers of operational user centers, researcher-teachers, and of course students, who are the focus of interest and the reason for the university's existence. This exploratory work aims to highlight the challenges of digitalization; It also shows, the expected objectives; the current results and the associated risks. It is a preliminary step for future work on the determining factors of the digital transition within Moroccan universities, based on a quantitative approach with 12 universities.