A Snapshot of Essential IT-Related Challenges of Universities: A Literature Analysis

Abstract

Universities have rarely been challenged to radically evolve and transform as they have been in the Covid-19 pandemic. The conduct of teaching and research, as well as the environment of staff and administration, have had to digitalize and transform under time pressure. This development has placed and continues to place high demands on IT and its infrastructure. In addition, new challenges have emerged, such as technology-based future skills, cybersecurity, and the need for an agile university-wide IT governance. Mastering these requires IT to address the present and the future already today. Therefore, in this article, we conducted a literature analysis to identify and examine current and future challenges for IT and its infrastructure in universities. We identified twelve overarching challenges, which we describe individually. This paper provides starting points for further IT-related research and essential viewing angles for IT governance in universities for practitioners.