PUBLICATIONS
University & Innovation
Latest Releases
Universities in Action: Building Cross-sector Alliances and Making Impact on Society
Release Date: March 8, 2024
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In a decade of growing global interconnectivity and accelerated technological change, universities have a crucial role in shaping, designing, and implementing the innovation of the future for the benefit of all. Understanding the relevance of universities in this fast-changing landscape, the GFCC is pleased to present Universities in Action: Building Cross-sector Alliances and Making Impact on Society. The new report captures insights from the forum co-organized by the GFCC and its member, the Brazilian National Confederation of Industries (CNI), on September 29, 2023, in São Paulo, Brazil.
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Industry-University Partnerships for Impact
Release Date: October 28, 2022
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Fostering partnerships between industry and higher education institutions is crucial to advancing economic growth and competitiveness. Our new report, Industry-University Partnerships for Impact, documents discussions about innovative models for collaboration across sectors held during a forum in March this year in São Paulo, Brazil. The event marked the resumption of GFCC in-person activities since the onset of COVID-19.
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Shift: Universities in Transformation
How COVID-19 Shaped the Universities of the Future
Release Date: October 19, 2022
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The COVID-19 pandemic advanced at least ten years of digital transformation in the university sector. Lockdowns and safety measures required universities to react quickly and rethink their operations. Education moved online at an unprecedented scale bringing new challenges and opportunities for teachers and learners worldwide. In this new report, the GFCC captures the pandemic-related impacts on higher education and the innovative solutions universities put in place to respond to the crisis, exploring long-term implications on university models and identifying the game-changers shaping the future of the higher education sector.
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Universities 4.0 Discussion Paper - Drivers of Resilience, Prosperity, and Recovery
Release Date: August 05, 2021
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The days when universities were habitually described as ivory towers seem long gone. The worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been led by scientific discovery and will be solved by a vaccine developed in collaboration between science and industry. In many different parts of the world, policy-makers and industry have grasped the power of universities to accelerate prosperity, prepare a well-trained labour force with advanced-level skills, address wicked social and environmental challenges and to support soft power agendas. Now, alongside resilience and prosperity, universities will play a vital role in driving recovery in physical, psychological, economic and social terms. Universities often find themselves playing the role of anchor institutions in their local communities at the same time as partnering for impact in their global operations. With their set of values and the importance of openness to knowledge and impact, universities are uniquely well-placed to rebuild and drive inclusive and sustainable growth. Multi-faceted resilience will be the foundation stone of this effort.
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Universities 4.0 Discussion Paper - Technology as a Transformation Enabler
Release Date: August 05, 2021
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The 4th Industrial Revolution and the advancement of new technologies, such as cloud systems, big data platforms, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence, will fundamentally change how organizations and universities operate. In an exclusive Discussion Paper for the GFCC, Prof. Aleksandar Subic, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President RMIT University, argues that data-driven technological innovation will enable new models of enterprise and leadership in the Higher Education sector. Universities will need to adapt to this new scenario, undergoing digital transformation to allow digital ecosystems to connect stakeholders on and off-campus.
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Universities 4.0 Discussion Paper - Universities of the Future
Release Date: August 05, 2021
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Universities face multiple challenges, such as changing student demographics, financial burden, evolving stakeholder demands, and rapid technological change. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated existing trends pushing universities to adapt, transform, and innovate. In an exclusive Discussion Paper for the GFCC, Dr. Cate Roy, Senior Policy Analyst Research Strategy and Integrity, and Prof. Jim Matson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, both at the University of Auckland, outline the drivers of change affecting universities and future opportunities in response to major societal shifts.
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Future Innovation Trends Influencing the Higher Education Business Model
Release Date: February 04, 2021
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While universities are essential growth engines in the knowledge economy, the Higher Education enterprise is going through major transformations. Changes in demographics, a move toward online education, the emergence of new types of certifications, novel innovation models and frameworks, new expectations on the roles that higher education institutions should play in society, technology growth and shifts in job markets are among the factors shaping this new reality. The Executive Summary highlights key questions emerging from such transformations and potential implications for the future of higher education.
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University & Research Reports
Convergence and Circulation
Release Date: November 27, 2017
The GFCC is proud to announce the launch of its new report, “Convergence & Circulation,” an in-depth account of the inaugural meeting of the University and Research Leadership Forum in London, November 2016. The report also unveils the creation of two new global task forces that will help universities identify and scale up solutions to foster innovation: ‘Leveraging Extreme Innovation’ and ‘Optimizing Innovation Alliances,’ which are now being launched. The GFCC University and Research Forum is comprised of forty universities from twenty countries working collaboratively to advance research centers and institutions of higher learning as engines of economic growth. The Forum, chaired by UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, will meet again in November 2017 in Malaysia to continue the conversation and review the results of the task forces.
Speed and Leadership
Release Date: September 17, 2018
The GFCC is proud to release its 2017-2018 report for the University and Research Leadership Forum, providing the latest account of Forum updates. This includes details on the Forum’s second annual meeting in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the release of reports for its two global task forces. The GFCC University and Research Leadership Forum is comprised of 40 universities from around the world, working in collaboration to enhance their own institutions and competitiveness of higher education as a whole. The Forum, chaired by Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla of UC San Diego, will reconvene in September 2018 in Argentina to continue their collaboration and share their latest findings in Forum initiatives.
Download the report here.
Optimizing Innovation Alliances
Release Date: September 17, 2018
Universities’ engagement with industry and alliances to foster innovation are crucial for economic development and prosperity. GFCC’s Optimizing Innovation Alliances, the report of one of the two Task Forces of the GFCC University and Research Leadership Forum, that were launched in 2016 in London, outlines these innovative practices and explores new, innovative and fruitful ways to improve such alliances across 18 participating universities.
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Leveraging Extreme Innovation
Release Date: September 17, 2018
Big, bold, transformational projects – across time, industries and nations – have a tremendous impact on the economy, new technologies and applications of innovative ideas. Universities play a significant role in providing the talent behind these projects, the infrastructures, and to catalyze the partnerships to make such projects a reality. The Leveraging Extreme Innovation Task Force, launched in 2016 by the GFCC University and Research Leadership Forum in London, explores 17 of such multi-billion dollar transformational projects across 60+ years. ​
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Special Topics on Innovation
Connecting Farm, City and Technology
Release Date: November 27, 2017
Smart integration of technology can help create sustainable urban food ecosystems (UFEs) for the rapidly expanding urban population in the developing world. It can increase production of nutritious food in the cities and surrounding regions where the food is consumed. Technology, especially recent advances in digital-enabled devices based on internet connectivity, is essential for building UFEs at a time when food availability is not meeting demand. For the first time in human history, food production will be limited on a global scale by the availability of land, water and energy. By 2050, two thirds of the world will be urban, with a net world population growth of 2 billion people (increasing the global population to nearly 10 billion) — expected to occur in urban regions in the developing world.
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