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A personal history: 33 ETH Zurich and the challenge of new digital technologies in 2003

April 25, 2026

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The Main Building ETH Zurich Image Zurich Tourism, 2026

I am writing an autobiography, mainly for my family, but it does cover some key moments in the development of open and online learning. I thought I would share these as there seems to be a growing interest in the history of educational technology.

Note that these posts are NOT meant to be deeply researched historical accounts, but how I saw and encountered developments in my personal life. If you were around at the time of these developments and would like to offer comments or a different view, please use the comment box at the end of each post. (There is already a conversation track on my LinkedIn site).

ETH Zurich

The year 2003 saw many institutions grappling with the challenge of new digital technologies and their potential impact on teaching, research and administration.

ETH World

ETH Zurich is a prestigious Swiss institute of technology, with over 26,000 students, including over 4,000 doctoral students. In the year 2000, the institution had introduced a program called ETH World, ‘to develop and introduce technologies for communication and cooperation independent of time and place.’ The aim was to create a virtual space or spaces for a range of institution-wide digital activities, such as online lectures, virtual labs, conferencing, and ‘on-demand’ online learning resources for students. This also involved creating the necessary digital infrastructure, such as a wireless local area network. Another goal was to increase ETH Zurich’s presence globally.

By 2003, the Board of ETH Zurich decided that there should be an intermediate evaluation of ETH World, and I was appointed one of four external reviewers. I spent four days in Zurich, mainly attending various briefings about the various projects established within ETH World.

There was no overarching ETH World master plan. Over the three years 2000-2003, there were just under 30 projects developed under the heading of ETH World. The majority of projects were developed within academic departments, although there were a few institution-wide initiatives, such as video streaming facilities. Basically, ETH World was a test-bed for digital applications in education, research and administration, and it was left to individual teaching, research and service units who were willing and able to contribute to decide what projects should be developed through ETH World. This reflected the culture of decentralisation at ETH Zurich.

However, this resulted in a good deal of overlap and duplication of activities between the various projects, and a concentration of activities in a few academic departments such as architecture and applied sciences. In particular, it did not result in any substantial transformation of departments or the institution itself.

The main recommendation from the peer review group was that while ETH World was an important influence in identifying potential uses for digital technologies at ETH, the overall goals and direction for information and communications technologies were the clear responsibility of ETH’s Executive Board. In addition, ETH World needed strategic guidance from the Executive Board, and in particular, measurable goals and objectives. The report also noted that while ETH World was valuable as an incubator and test-bed for initiatives, it was not appropriate for the day-to-day management of digital services. ETH World continued until 2006.

ETH World was a very good example of the way institutions were grappling with strategies for managing digital technologies at the turn of the 21^st century. They weren’t ready yet to develop a full-blooded strategy for digital technologies, but were looking for ways to experiment and learn.

It also demonstrated the importance of my book Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders , which Jossey-Bass had published in 2000, which dealt with many of the issues raised by the ETH World initiative.