The Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) is an independent government-funded institute for distance learning at university level. It offers modular courses (about 300) and full degree programmes in law, economics, business and public administration, engineering, environmental science, cultural studies and social science. The OUNL has three missions:

1. To create an effective, attractive, accessible and cost-effective form of higher education, using new technologies.

2. To innovate in higher education, by research into teaching methods, development of new learning technologies and by supporting implementation of new concepts and technologies.

3. To reduce the teacher shortage in Dutch primary and secondary schools. The OUNL experts who will participate in the project will come from CELSTEC (Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, formerly OTEC). CELSTEC is responsible for the innovation task of the OUNL and has a staff of around 100 researchers & developers. The LTfLL will be directed by the RTD programme into learning technologies. The programme has in the past been responsible for a large number of e-learning innovation and RTD projects, some of it with a multi-million euro scope. Current projects are in the field of distributed lifelong learning, effective use of the semantic web in education, personalization, empowerment of learners, collaborative filtering, software agents for teacher/learner support, the further development of IMS Learning Design, new versions of IMS QTI and assessment models.

The programme has a leading role in the RTD and standardization activities for learning technologies at the national, European and Global level (e.g., technical board member of IMS, leading member of the Dutch Digital Universities Consortium, Chair of the Dutch NEN Commission on Learning Technologies, initiator and co-organiser of SURF's Learning Technology working group SIX). It has numerous functions in scientific programme committees, scientific journals and associations in the field, and the programme participates or leads in a number of co-operative e-learning technologies projects at national and international level, e.g. innovation and RTD projects in the Netherlands and Belgium, EU-projects, such as TENCompetence, COOPER, MACE, aLFanet, eLearnTN, TIME2LEARN, E-LEN, UNFOLD, TELCERT, ADAPT-IT. It also participates in public-private networks like the Valkenburg Group and in projects funded by third parties.