The United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) has recently launched University of the Future Project to re-envision the future of UAEU in becoming a world-class university and reaching its future aspiration in becoming “Among the first 20 academic institutions in Asia; and among the first 200 globally” by 2030.

As part of the University of the Future Project, UAEU has completed a 2030 scenarios sub - project exploring the future of higher education together with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS).

The scenarios project objective was to explore the future of higher education, to provide 360° analyses on how UAEU’s environment and customer segments could evolve, as well as to challenge existing assumptions about the future of higher education and serve as a platform for UAEU’s strategy and innovation.

H.E. Prof. Mohamed Albaili, UAEU Vice Chancellor, confirmed that university education is becoming increasingly expensive and digital technologies more ubiquitous, higher education institutions need to adapt their business models and service offerings to remain relevant to societies, economies and students. H.E. Prof. Albaili further stated that the aim of the scenarios project has been to address these challenges and their implications for UAEU towards the year 2030.

A series of workshops with participants from across diverse academic and administrative functions were conducted to form a report that describes the main characteristics of the future higher education environment and its potential impact on the UAEU, in the form of four plausible future scenarios that have been prepared and formulated for the year 2030.

The purpose of the scenarios is to strengthen the strategic decision-making and align the aspirations and goals of UAEU.

The final report highlights several strategic recommendations around topics such as: Digital learning & content portals. Public-private-partnerships. On-location, workplace-based collaborative learning.