Programs of Regional Universities Development: Goals in the Field of Digital Readiness and Tools for Their Assessment

The article is of a research nature and analyzes the goals in the field of digital maturity and tools for their assessment in the development programs of leading regional universities of the Russian Federation included in the «Priority-2030» program. The research method used was theoretical thematic analysis of documents of strategic planning (development programs and specialized programs of digitalization / digital transformation of regional universities of the Russian Federation included in the «Priority-2030» program). The analysis results showed that all Russian universities participating in the «Priority-2030» development program have developed their own development programs, in which point 2.8 is dedicated to the goals and measures of their digital transformation. However, the presence of development programs and a special section on digital transformation does not simultaneously imply a description of the tools for its assessment, including indicators of digital readiness. Overall, according to the results of content analysis of development programs of regional universities, it can be concluded that there is no common vision for the strategic development of universities in the field of digital transformation. Universities’ approaches to assessing digital readiness can be divided into 3 groups: 1) the development program includes a goal related to achieving a certain level of digital readiness, and a methodology for its assessment is described; 2) there is a goal and/or tasks for achieving digital readiness, but there is no mention of the tools for its assessment; 3) the program describes activities for digital transformation, but the goals of achieving digital readiness are not formulated, and there is no mention of the tools for its assessment. The novelty of the research is presented by the author’s approach to analyzing the processes of digital transformation of universities based on theoretical thematic analysis of university development programs for 2021–2030 within the framework of the implementation of the «Priority-2030» strategic academic leadership program. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using the analysis results to improve the management of processes of digital transformation in universities.