University Digitalisation in Poland: State of Play, Gaps and Direction for 2026

Polish universities reconcile two things that are difficult to reconcile. They rank on supercomputers at the global forefront — yet send a student to extend a deadline by email, after which their data is transcribed by hand into a spreadsheet. The same university, one academic year, two completely different speeds.

University digitalisation in Poland in 2026 thus has two faces: world-class research infrastructure and student services from the previous decade. The gap between them is today the main area requiring catch-up. It is being helped by a convergence of circumstances — open EU funds, the sector’s first long-term strategy, and financial pressure demanding more for less.

Computing Power: Playing in the First Division

The strength is real. In the TOP500 ranking of November 2025, seven Polish supercomputers appeared — placing Poland in the top ten worldwide. They are connected by the PIONIER optical network — national infrastructure linking high-performance computing centres at the largest academic hubs with terabit-level links.

On this infrastructure, PLLuM was built — Poland’s first large language model. It was developed by a consortium led by Wrocław University of Technology, released for public use in February 2025 and is already running in the mObywatel app. The conclusion is straightforward. When the resources and a clear goal are in place, Polish science delivers world-class technology.

Student Services Stuck a Decade Behind

The difficulties begin where students and staff interact with the university every day. Take digital accessibility — a litmus test of maturity. An audit of 309 universities (Ambiscale, “WCAG Report 2025”) found that half of public university websites have serious accessibility errors. If something as simple as one’s own website cannot be brought up to standard, closed internal processes are even harder to imagine.

The core is often solid: the USOS student information system manages academic records at approximately 58% of public universities, including seven of the nine largest (MUCI data). The problem lies in what surrounds that core. A typical university runs on several disconnected tools: a separate student information system, separate email with spreadsheets, a separate e-learning platform, a separate video tool. Data moves between them manually. Each such system means an additional contract, an additional update, an additional vendor — and an additional gateway that someone must guard.

Among Polish solutions, the domestic project MenToR (QA10) builds an AI layer on top of the existing student information system rather than replacing it — with data processed exclusively in the European Union.

A Thin Foundation: Skills and Staffing

Technology is not served by servers alone. It is served by people — and they are in short supply. According to Eurostat (DESI index), 44.3% of adults in Poland have basic digital skills, against an EU target of 80% by 2030; above-basic skills — barely 20%, giving Poland 21st place in the Union. The pipeline of fresh IT talent is also narrow. Just over 17,000 people graduated from ICT programmes in 2022, i.e. 4% of all graduates (in the EU — 5%). Universities thus face a double problem: they train too few digital specialists and at the same time compete with the market for the same people to run their own systems.

Funding Is Shrinking

On top of this there is financial pressure that rectors speak about openly. In the draft budget for 2026, approximately PLN 44 billion — 1.06% of GDP — was allocated to research and higher education. In a statement of 27 November 2025, KRASP called this the lowest ratio since the 2018 reform. The EU average for research spending is estimated at around 3% of GDP. The mechanical consequence is clear. Most funds go on salaries and maintenance; research is left with scraps; and a digital investment must justify itself through a return. This shifts the burden to two levers: external funding and real savings from automation.

Cybersecurity — the Weakest Link

The gap shows most sharply when an attack strikes. In the night of 15–16 April 2026, the University of Warsaw fell victim to ransomware; according to the university itself, personal data may have been contained in approximately 32,800 files, and some documents leaked to the darknet. The War Studies Academy had previously suffered a similar attack. National figures were breaking records — in 2025 CERT Poland registered 260,783 unique incidents. A distributed architecture works against universities here: the more separate systems, the wider the attack surface. We explore this topic in a separate article on university cybersecurity.

Direction Set by the First Long-Term Strategy

The sector has finally received a plan longer than one term of office. The draft Development Strategy for Higher Education 2025–2035 envisages that by 2030 every university will have launched a technology transfer centre, and that funding for the digitalisation of teaching will increase — together with a shared resource base for all universities. In the background lies a problem that no server can solve: one in five young researchers leaves Poland for better conditions. Much of the funding for these changes flows from the EU, as we explain in our guide to FERS and FENG.

One Environment Instead of Another Separate System

The data points to a consistent conclusion. Universities today do not need yet another standalone tool — they need what they already have to be connected into a single, secure environment. Today these areas exist in isolation: the dean’s office handles student affairs, teaching takes place elsewhere, and remote classes somewhere else again. Brought together on a single AI-enabled platform, they reduce the time to handle administrative matters from hours to minutes, close off compliance requirements (GDPR, AI Act, WCAG) in one place, and narrow the attack surface rather than multiplying it.

This is exactly how the MenToR platform was built: three modules (DEAN, LUMEN, FORUM), one university login, data processed exclusively in the European Union. If you are working on several disconnected systems, let us begin with a brief needs assessment — thirty minutes, no presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does university digitalisation encompass? University digitalisation covers student affairs in the dean’s office, teaching support, remote and hybrid classes, data management and legal compliance (GDPR, AI Act, WCAG). In practice it is about connecting these areas into a single environment rather than maintaining several disconnected systems.

Are Polish universities digitally advanced? The picture is uneven. Research infrastructure is at the global forefront — seven Polish supercomputers in the TOP500 ranking of November 2025. Day-to-day student services and administration are significantly weaker; half of public university websites have serious accessibility errors (audit of 309 universities, 2025).

How much does Poland spend on higher education and research? In the draft budget for 2026 approximately PLN 44 billion, i.e. 1.06% of GDP. KRASP described this as the lowest level since the 2018 reform. The EU average for research spending is estimated at around 3% of GDP.

What does the 2025–2035 Strategy change? The draft strategy envisages, among other things, a technology transfer centre at every university by 2030 and increased funding for the digitalisation of teaching, together with a shared resource base. It is the first planning document for the sector covering an entire decade.