Lunch-Talk: Dr. Janja Komljenovic

Digital Higher Education Markets: From Commodities to Assets 

Higher Education (HE) industry consists of diverse, multiple and variegated markets in which universities are both, sellers and buyers of things and services. There is also an emergence of new types and forms of partnerships or long-term cooperation between public universities and private companies. Such partnerships and cooperation are especially relevant in supporting the digitalisation of university operations spanning from providing distance courses to learning and business analytics or even smart campuses. While this cooperation includes monetary transactions, it also collects enormous amounts of digital data and builds digital infrastructure. These can be monetised and turned into future digital assets. This presentation will address essential differences between commodities and assets in the contemporary digital economy; and will conceptualise emerging digital products and services in HE. It will particularly focus on valuation processes in these new HE markets and the construction of HE future. Implications for universities, students and societies at large will be presented.

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