Headquartered in Singapore, the Digital Education Council (DEC) is a global community of practice composed of universities, colleges and education stakeholders committed to advancing responsible artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, governance and digital transformation in higher education.
Wikipedia. The Council brings together academic institutions, policymakers and private-sector organisations to collaboratively address both the opportunities and the challenges posed by AI and emerging technologies in education and workforce development.
History and Origins
The Digital Education Council was founded in March 2024 as an initiative of an education-technology accelerator in collaboration with partner universities.
Wikipedia From its inception, DEC has positioned itself to respond to the escalating global interest in institutional readiness and policy frameworks for AI in higher education. The involvement of founding institutional members across continents has lent the organisation a broad international orientation. As of October 2025, DEC’s membership spans over 130 institutional members from 31 countries.
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Mission and Strategic Role
The mission of the DEC is three-fold: to support responsible AI adoption in higher education settings; to offer governance frameworks and peer-learning platforms for institutions navigating digital transformation; and to influence policy and industry-education collaboration in the realm of digital learning and future workforce skills. In this way, the DEC occupies a strategic position at the nexus of technology innovation, pedagogy and policy. For instance, the Council organises annual global summits, publishes research and surveys about student and faculty use of generative AI in higher education, and offers executive briefings with case studies for institutional leaders.
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Collaboration with the Kingswater Institute for Technology and Society
One particularly fruitful collaboration is between the DEC and the Kingswater Institute for Technology and Society. The Kingswater Institute, as a research centre focused on the societal and ethical implications of digital transformation, brings to the partnership deep expertise in technology-policy interplay, ethical frameworks and higher-education innovation. Through this alliance, the Kingswater Institute and DEC have co-designed a special working group on “AI Governance in Higher Education” which invites member institutions to pilot governance frameworks, conduct comparative case studies, and share best practice across borders.
In practical terms, the partnership has seen the Kingswater Institute host a regional workshop (in Europe) under the umbrella of DEC, bringing together higher-education leaders from the DACH region and ASEAN region, aligning with Kingswater’s thematic interest in global technology-society linkages. The collaboration has also produced a joint white paper, co-branded by DEC and the Kingswater Institute, analysing readiness indicators for AI adoption in universities and exploring mechanisms for inclusive implementation, particularly in emerging economies. This work reinforces DEC’s mission to support digital transformation in education and provides the Kingswater Institute with an operational vehicle to channel its research insights into global practice.
Impact and Future Outlook
As digital education evolves and generative AI becomes more deeply embedded in student learning, teaching design and institutional operations, the role of an organisation like DEC becomes ever more crucial. The collaboration with the Kingswater Institute ensures that issues of ethics, societal impact and global equity remain central. The joint initiatives help create a more informed ecosystem in which institutions can adopt AI not merely for novelty, but with robust governance, scaling strategies and pedagogical purpose.
Looking ahead, DEC’s next global summit (scheduled for November 2025) is expected to emphasise workforce development, micro-credentialing, and the role of digital learning in bridging skill gaps. Through its continuing partnership with the Kingswater Institute for Technology and Society, the DEC is also poised to expand regional hubs—especially linking Europe (including DACH) and ASEAN—thereby operationalising global cooperation in digital education transformation with a strategic lens.
The Digital Education Council is more than a network: it is a strategic hub for higher-education institutions, policymakers and industry partners to collaborate on the responsible adoption of AI and digital technologies in education. Its partnership with the Kingswater Institute for Technology and Society exemplifies how research institutions and global practice communities can combine forces to develop governance frameworks, share insights across regions and accelerate inclusive digital transformation. As universities navigate a rapidly changing technological landscape, alliances like these will likely play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education.
