Abstract:
Digital governance has become increasingly significant in higher education, from policy-making
to instructional innovation in the global context. Sri Lanka initiated the process of integrating
digital governance in higher education as part of a National Digitalisation Framework. Despite
the initial policy proposal, the effective implementation across higher educational institutions
seems to be lagging. Thus, this study explores current trends in digital governance in higher
education in Sri Lanka, highlighting national strategies and attempts. Additionally, the review
explored emerging challenges of the integration of digital governance, such as digital devices,
and the decline in academic integrity. This study employed a qualitative comparative approach
to examine the current context of integration of digital governance in higher education in
Sri Lanka. A systematic literature search was carried out for peer-reviewed journal articles,
case studies, reviews (published in databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google
Scholar), policy documents, and institutional reports published between 2015 and 2025 using the
keywords “digital governance in higher education in Sri Lanka”. The available literature on digital
governance in higher education in Sri Lanka mostly reflects the state of policies and frameworks,
and the evolution of policy development is presented in this review. A few empirical studies
have been carried out on the usage of digital tools by students and educators at the institutional
level. Concerns over data privacy & security, and equity in digital infrastructure & literacy have
been identified as key challenges that constrained the effective integration of digital governance
in higher education. This review highlights the limitations of studies conducted on the effect of
digitalisation on functional aspects of governance. This review further identifies the limitations in
the development of a comprehensive policy on the integration of digital governance into higher
educational institutes and looks ahead to provide recommendations for developing a policy
framework for digital governance strategies, emphasising the sustainability and collaboration for
quality higher education.
