[Editor’s Note] Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized, “Education digitization is pivotal for China to pioneer new pathways and advantages in education.” In the Era of Intelligence propelled by surging digital waves, higher education’s digital transformation has emerged as an irreversible global trend, a developmental necessity, and a strategic imperative for institutional reform. Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) has actively seized these opportunities, positioning digital transformation as the core engine for systemic reforms. By driving innovations such as smart campuses, AI-enhanced teaching ecosystems, and data-driven governance frameworks, the university aims to establish itself as a national benchmark for digitally transformed higher education institutions. Coinciding with the 2025 World Digital Education Conference, where WUT will host the parallel session “AI for STEM Education”, this portal launches the “Digital Intelligence @WUT” column. We invite global educators to explore collaborative pathways and to envision future paradigms of education together.

In May, Wuhan, the River City, blooms with vitality. On May 14, the 2025 World Digital Education Conference will commence in Wuhan under the theme “Education Development and Transformation: The Era of Intelligence”, aligning with UNESCO’s global education reform initiatives to advance the education development and transformation in the era of intelligence. Wuhan University of Technology will host “AI for STEM Education” parallel session where global scholars will showcase the latest research achievements and successful cases of artificial intelligence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Through in-depth discussions, they will explore how AI empowers students to become innovative researchers and engineers.

As digital technologies reshape production, lifestyles, and governance, education faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. President Xi Jinping emphasized, “Education digitization is pivotal for China to pioneer new pathways and advantages in education.” Since 2022, China’s Ministry of Education has spearheaded a national strategy for digital education. As primary hubs for talent cultivation, birthplaces of technological innovation, and new frontiers in social services, universities across China now face a shared challenge: how to further unleash the powerful momentum of educational digitization to pioneer new pathways and shape strategic advantages, while exploring effective approaches to leverage digital technologies in enabling large-scale personalized education and innovative pedagogy. How can universities address challenges, seize opportunities, and advance the development and transformation of education in the intelligent era? WUT has embarked on proactive explorations and practical initiatives to answer this pressing question.

“Those who discern trends gain clarity; those who embrace them attain wisdom.” Since the Fourth Party Congress of WUT, the university has positioned educational digitalization as a strategic choice to pioneer new pathways for educational development and a strategic pillar for building a high-quality education system. By leveraging digital transformation as a strategic pivot, it comprehensively empowers high-quality institutional development and strives to establish itself as a benchmark university for digital transformation. Over the past three years, adhering to the framework of “Party-led governance, data-driven innovation, collaborative synergy, and efficiency enhancement”, WUT has pursued digital transformation with unwavering resolve, swift execution, and excellence-driven outcomes. We have systematically advanced from digital conversion to holistic transformation, and now toward intelligent evolution.

“The greatest truths are profoundly simple; action speaks louder than words.” Anticipating trends and seizing new digital frontiers, WUT has pioneered groundbreaking innovations: establishing China’s first Future Learning Center, a big data center managing over 3.5 billion datasets, an AI President Assistant, the “Materials plus” disciplinary AI model, and a smart supervision system—all marking “first-of-their-kind” achievements. WUT has spearheaded transformative practices: the first large-scale implementation of a dual-driven “knowledge-data” smart course platform; the inaugural operational deployment of an Intelligent Operations Center (IOC); the AI President Assistant system firstly redefining university governance across academic, personnel, physical, and cyber domains; and the pioneering “fully online, campus-free” evaluation mechanism. Our trailblazing initiatives—including AI classroom monitoring, digital student profiles, smart campus management, comprehensive data analytics, the “observable-controllable-actionable-predictable” security framework, and the “Campus AI Assistant”—embody our pragmatic commitment to educational digitization. Through systematic reforms encompassing teaching, learning, research, administration, evaluation, and services, WUT is proactively positioning itself as a pioneering trailblazer and leading force in higher education’s digital transformation, riding the tide of innovation to forge new paradigms.

A New Chapter Begins with the Blueprint. Entering the inaugural year of Smart Education, the Ministry of Education has unveiled The 2024-2035 master plan on building China into a leading country in education and the Three-Year Action Plan for Education Powerhouse Construction. Concurrently, MOE has launched the National Education Digitalization Strategic Initiative 2.0 and jointly issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Digitalization of Education with nine ministries, charting a comprehensive blueprint for advancing digital education in the coming phase.

Building upon a new phase, adopting new standards, and forging new pathways, WUT is driving innovative development in future-oriented schools, classrooms, educators, and learning centers. It is advancing key digital transformation initiatives, including: Digital Governance Leadership, Leading Goose Initiative, Scenario-Driven Applications, Forward-Looking Research and Global Collaboration. Through these efforts, the university is building a more resilient, interconnected, and open higher education ecosystem, answering the era’s call of “WUT’s Role in Building an Education Powerhouse”.

Source: Publicity Department of WUT, Information Office of WUT

Written by: Xie Xiaoqin

Reviewed by: Ju Chao, Ma Bin

Edited by: Li Tiantian