Competencies for Digital Leadership

Digitalization Requires Digital Competencies

Digitalization is accelerating across sectors and placing new demands on leaders, who must ensure that their organizations can embrace and strategically leverage digital opportunities.

Purpose

The project aims to strengthen leaders’ understanding of digital transformation and equip them with the necessary skills to understand, manage, and lead digitalization within the healthcare sector effectively. The project focuses on developing, testing, and evaluating an educational concept for leaders to prepare them for driving digital transformation in the healthcare sector.

Background

The project was initiated through a partnership with municipalities involved in the Digital Health Centre, with the goal of preparing leaders to understand technologies, motivate employees, and facilitate digital transformation.

The project builds on positive experiences from past initiatives, including the EU-supported project DELIVER (www.project-deliver.eu). It was developed in collaboration with the Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark, UCL Business Academy and University College, and the HR Leadership Academy in the Region of Southern Denmark.

The project is built on a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience to ensure that leaders gain an understanding of both the technological and organizational aspects of digitalization. Participants will engage in a series of learning modules, including workshops, case-based exercises, and cross-sectoral knowledge sharing. These activities will equip them to make informed decisions regarding digital strategy, change management, data ethics, and the application of new technologies within their own organizations.

Central to the project is the creation of a strong network of leaders who can exchange best practices and find solutions to the challenges that digital transformation may entail. The project emphasizes connecting theory with real-world examples from participants’ organizations to develop an action-oriented approach to digital leadership.

The project alternates between practice and theory, and it also creates a network that can be used for ongoing collaboration. Unlike more traditional offerings in the area, such as themed days, this is a genuine training program, where practical work takes place in parallel with the course. Along the way, participants will also gain insights into the challenges of leading digitalization – and the trial actions provide experiences regarding what can and cannot be solved and the dilemmas involved.

Objectives

The goal of the project is to strengthen digital leadership capacity. Participants will explore the latest technological trends and develop strategies to integrate digital innovation and continuous development into their organizational culture.
Through collaboration and knowledge sharing, the project lays the foundation for a stronger digital transition, where leaders are prepared to face future challenges and opportunities with strategic insight and technological understanding.

The target group includes department heads responsible for personnel management in the healthcare field. It is essential that they are in contact with day-to-day operations and work on the implementation of technology. These leaders set the operational framework for staff who interact directly with citizens.

Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark will serve as the project coordinator, drawing on its competencies and experience as well as its coordinating role in the Digital Health Centre. A steering group will be established in the project, with representatives from Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark, the municipalities, and UCL University College.

The project group will include staff from Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark and UCL University College, as well as representatives from the municipalities who will be continuously involved in the development and execution of the project. UCL University College will act as the evaluator for the project.

Project Duration

The project will run from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.