On Monday 13 May, the European Commission announced the launch of the European Higher Education Sector Observatory (EHESO).
This initiative, funded by the Erasmus+ programme and developed by a consortium of five partner organisations, aims to centralise and improve the use of existing European data tools and capacities. It will bring together key databases such as Erasmus+, U-Multirank (multidimensional ranking of higher education institutions), the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR), Eurostudent (the social dimension of higher education), Eurograduate (the outcomes of higher education graduates) and Eurydice data on higher education policy (the Bologna Process Implementation Report, a mobility scoreboard, descriptions of national education systems).
The new portal, which is a section of the National Policies Platform (https://aeur.eu/f/c7n ), will make it possible to compare and analyse the higher education sector’s performance in relation to various issues such as inclusion, learning outcomes, digital technology, green and entrepreneurial skills, technological transferability and employability. This process will also strengthen the role of institutions in innovation ecosystems and transnational cooperation in the higher education sector. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)