Beyond Digital Infrastructure: Academic Staff Readiness for Digital Pedagogy in Tanzanian Public Universities

International audience Universities have invested heavily in digital infrastructure, yet this investment does not consistently translate into better teaching. Most research explains this gap by focusing on technology itself; far less attention has been paid to the academic staff who decide whether and how to use it. This study examined how academic staff readiness shaped the integration of digital technologies into teaching after Tanzania's Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the study surveyed 271 academic staff across five public universities, interviewed project coordinators and institutional leaders. Questionnaire data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA; interview and observation data were analysed thematically. Academic staff readiness for digital pedagogy was moderate overall, with significant variation across universities. The qualitative findings explain why: continuous professional development, supportive leadership, reliable technical support, and institutional follow-up strengthened academic staff readiness, while infrastructure alone did not. Academic staff readiness, not infrastructure, is the link between technological investment and real change in teaching. Universities that want lasting digital transformation need to pair infrastructure spending with sustained professional learning and institutional support, rather than treating one as a substitute for the other.