The Role of the University in Developing Its Digital Identity

Abstract

Universities face the need to adapt to an environment of open collaboration in which production and diffusion of knowledge are not exclusive to traditional scientific institutions. Being involved in the online society urges them to develop a digital identity that enters into debate with all the players and participants in the building of knowledge. In order to do this they need to redefine their role in society and make key decisions on where they stand in reference to the characteristic elements of digital culture: participation, solutions and bricoloage. This redefinition requires a radical change of attitude in matters such as the collective representation of the distributed identities of its members, the adoption of open access systems to encourage free access to knowledge and the use of open technologies to produce knowledge. This article defends the identification of the University as an active agent in digital culture playing the role of a commissioner to build and promote flexible contexts that allow collaborative work online and attract creative innovation from outside its organizational boundaries.