Higher Education in The Era of The Fourth Industrial Revolution

In a July 2017 piece in Inside Higher Ed, Joshua Kim asked: “Why is it that books about technological-induced economic change tend to focus on every other information industry except for higher education?” The answer is because no one knows quite what is happening yet. It is too new. The automation economy, resulting from the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), is changing the way we live and work. Information transfer is no longer the sole purview of institutions of higher education (HE). Information is everywhere and the collection of big data means we have brand new kinds of information. Several good books have already been released on what needs to change in HE, but they lack a detailed perspective on how some elements of HE—liberal arts, youth themselves, and libraries—are already changing, as well as what nations are doing to adapt their HE institutions. HE is changing around the world already as a result of the fast-shifting global economy and the types of employees and thinkers it demands. This book offers a first glimpse at new global trends in HE, and how nations around the world are responding in their national HE systems in order to provide readers insights into how that is already happening on the ground and what is likely to come next. HE will have to change, quickly, in collaboration with governments and industry to respond to the automation of knowledge and production.

Cut Rita Zahara

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