SURFfoundation

SURFfoundation is the Dutch higher education and research partnership organisation for network services and information communications technology (ICT).

SURFfoundation’s mission is to exploit and improve a common, advanced ICT infrastructure that will enable higher education institutes to better realise their own ambitions and improve the quality of learning, teaching and research.

SURFfoundation supports and advises higher education and research institutions and other related organisations (policy, unions, government) on the use of ICT. SURFfoundation advises the Ministry of Education and other ministries on strategic planning and ministries fund innovation programmes through SURFfoundation.

SURFfoundation operates in a complex territory, with a number of organisations working (at least in part) to support the use of technology in education and research communities, among them the Royal National Library and the Royal Dutch Academy of Science. There are also close relationships with the umbrella organisation for universities (VSNU) and higher education institutes for applied sciences (HBO-raad).

In conjunction with higher education institutions and research institutions, SURFfoundation presented the Strategy for 2007-2010, called ‘Thinking Ahead’. A dutch version can be downloaded from the SURFfoundation website here. 

The emphasis lies on realising the potential of ICT to meet the needs of students, teaching staff, researchers, institutions, society and government in effective and efficient ways. SURFfoundation invests in building a world-class infrastructure and information architecture based on a service oriented approach.