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Posted by Grainne Phelan, Google Apps for Education Team

The sun was shining in Amsterdam and the tulips were in blossom today as 10 top universities in the Netherlands came together to announce a group migration to Google Apps for Education. This group movement, which was negotiated with the help of SURF, the Dutch higher education and research partnership for ICT-driven innovation, represents the second example of a national “wave” of universities making the transition to cloud computing together.

This group of Dutch universities join a community of schools and universities across the world who have adopted Google Apps for Education to help stay ahead of the curve in the education sector. 66 of the top 100 universities in the United States have already adopted Google Apps, and other top institutions across Europe, including the University of Warsaw and University of Sapienza in Rome, have recently transitioned to Google Apps for Education.

The universities that have gone Google today are: Open University; University of Groningen; University of Amsterdam; Utrecht University; Tilburg University; University of Twente; Delft University of Technology; Avans; HZ University of Applied Sciences; and NHL. The educational research organization TERENA (Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association) also announced their migration today.



The University of Tilburg previously used Microsoft’s cloud solution, and transitioned to Google Apps for Education for staff and students at the beginning of June. Their IT director, Corno Vromans, is feeling positive:

“With the transition to Google Apps, the whole academic community, students and staff, have a new, modern working environment. With Google Apps, regardless of time and place, users can access their files and they can share and collaborate simultaneously. We are very interested in innovation and collaboration, so with Google Apps we are ready for the future."

Congratulations to the all the Dutch universities as they embark on their new journey with Google, and we look forward to celebrating the next wave of universities to join the club.