A Framework for Digital Transformation of Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria

Digital transformation is reshaping higher education worldwide, but implementation is uneven across regions. The digital transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) in African countries is still hindered by infrastructure limitations, resource constraints, and contextual differences. Existing digital transformation frameworks are primarily designed for well-resourced systems and do not take into account the prevalent technological skill gaps, funding shortfalls, and infrastructural deficiencies in developing countries. The study addresses this gap by developing and validating a contextual model of the drivers of digital transformation in Nigerian HEIs and applying the model to develop a broader digital transformation framework. From the literature, four constructs were identified and validated using the Fuzzy Delphi method with 33 experts of senior academic rank in Nigerian HEIs. The constructs were digital and physical infrastructure, organisational culture, professional development, and technological features. The average fuzzy consensus scores for all 21 questionnaire items ranged from 0.529 to 0.782, which are above the 0.50 threshold. This supports the expert agreement that all four constructs impact digital transformation. These validated constructs, together with themes derived from the wider literature, were used to develop a seven-layer framework for digital transformation based on infrastructure and organisational culture, with five additional pillars: people and culture, content and solutions, knowledge management, data management and cost and sustainability. The framework provides Nigerian HEIs, and institutions elsewhere with similar resources, a contextually based and empirically validated benchmark to plan digital transformation.