ABSTRACT
In Higher Education in 2040 – A Global Approach, Bert van der Zwaan states that there are many definitions of universities and that ‘The university does not exist’ (31). I agree and picked one from the Internet: on Wikipedia, a university is defined as ‘an institution of higher (tertiary) education which awards academic degrees in various disciplines. Universities typically provide undergraduate and postgraduate education.’ This is quite a matter-of-fact definition. Wikipedia also states that ‘the word “university” is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means “community of teachers and scholars”’. 1 I believe that the word ‘community’ is vital in this definition and that its importance is often underestimated in higher education. Bert van der Zwaan describes digitalization as one of the megatrends that will afffect higher education institutions. In this essay, I will elaborate on this and give an overview of how information technology influences higher education in logistics and administration, in how we teach, what we teach, and what digitalization means for the higher education system. 2 I will conclude with the part that is often overlooked: what digitalization can mean for the university as a community.
