Digitalization of universities is an actual trend of our time, due to the direction of development of the Russian economy, focused on improving its efficiency. The tools for achieving this goal are largely lean and digital technologies.The existing regulatory framework of the Russian Federation in the field of effective development is analyzed. The object of analysis is federal and national projects and programs, the purpose of which is to increase labor productivity, ensure the quality and accessibility of services in various fields. The existence of links between federal projects aimed at improving the efficiency of various sectors of the economy through the introduction of lean manufacturing and projects aimed at creating a digital space is demonstrated. The necessity of conforming the development path of educational structures to the vectors of modern social development is substantiated in terms of transferring their internal processes to a qualitatively new level using lean technologies and digitalization of processes. The experience of implementing projects for improvements using lean technologies and digitalization at the Kuban State Medical University is described. The analysis of the effectiveness of projects implemented in the framework of the concept of "Lean university", with the use of digitalization and without its use. Conclusions are drawn about the limitations of the use of digitalization to improve the efficiency of processes, the risks of its use in educational institutions, as well as the need for the synthesis of lean technologies and digitalization in the context of the effective development of organizations.