Convergence,the university of the future and the future of the university

 The paper questions the ability of current university systems to respond appropriately to the complex demands of an Information Economy. It argues that new relationships between creative subjects and technology require new thinking about the nature and purpose of universities per se. In particular, attention is drawn to the growing involvement of the private sector in higher education. It is argued that it may not be appropriate to think of the `university of the future' in terms of current public sector and quasi public sector institutions, but rather in terms of an emporium, based on an international trade in educational services, and with the `University' as we now understand it occupying the functions of licensing, quality assurance and cultural custodianship. Accepted: 25 June 2002