The University of Jordan (UJ) President, Prof. Nathir Obeidat, participated with a keynote address on Saturday in the first international conference of the Kuwait Association for Graduate Studies under the title “Modern Perspectives in Management: Evidence from Developing Countries in light of digital transformation."

 

In his address, Obeidat said that the COVID-19 pandemic was only the factor that made us realize the need to speed up the process of transformation to a form more similar to the digital reality.

 

Obeidat stressed the need to fully digitize academic and administrative processes in universities and to building excellent communication channels between students and university employees, in a way that allows bypassing the traditional determinants that have long contributed to slowing progress.

 

He also indicated that one of the most important challenges facing higher education in the Arab world today is the ability of universities to create education that meets the aspirations of people and the needs of society, pointing to his concerns about underprivileged students' chances to access university education that is capable of producing distinguished graduates despite the serious efforts of governments to support needy students.

 

Moreover, Obeidat emphasized that the digital transformation must, in some way, flatten the cost curve of higher education, and push to narrow the gap in opportunities available to the rich and the poor.

 

The conference, which was attended by a number of presidents of international, Arab and local universities, aims to bring together academics, practitioners and researchers to exchange knowledge and ideas as well as discuss the current developments in the field of higher education management in light of digital and technological transformation.