A Roadmap for Digital Transformation of Latin American Universities

Abstract

The year 2020 has made it very clear for universities that they need to transform and leverage information and communications technologies (ICTs) more than ever. Disruptive technologies have gained relevance in every aspect of life, altering the traditional ways for work, family and school environments. Thus, Society 5.0, understood somewhat as the humanised focus of Industry 4.0 developments, provides educational institutions with great new opportunities for innovation, as well as pertinence and quality assurance for their teaching and learning processes. This paper describes a comparative analysis on the use of ICTs for education and administrative processes by higher education institutions in five Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru. Their levels of readiness to profit from ICTs are diagnosed, as a function of several factors, including technology infrastructure planning and development, digital skills, educational technology planning, and administrative support, among others. The results allow for undertaking a gap analysis, and a roadmap to overcome the challenges for a successful digital transformation process is then laid out, as well as general recommendations for its use. Insights obtained from this study show clearly that many realities exist, not only between countries, but also within. The lack of infrastructure and financial resources represents major deterrents for ICT appropriation, but it is ICT, in fact, the potential solution for reducing digital exclusion.