ABSTRACT
The chapter presents the main purpose of the study, which is the assessment of digital transformation in educational institutions and of the level of digital maturity of educational leaders. It establishes research questions used to design the research components presented in the following chapters. The first research attempts to evaluate the competences 4.0 of Erasmus+ project leaders, while the second research aims to diagnose the level of advancement of digital transformation of universities affiliated with the European Universities alliances while comparing it to selected American universities. The chapter also explains the main concepts used in the publication and presents the background of the study by drawing on the assumptions of a parallel digital transformation in the industrial sector, highlighting the necessity of shifting the operational models of educational institutions towards achieving digital maturity, and situating the research within the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the chapter provides a summary of the subsequent chapters.
