By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Davina Potts and Kent Anderson say Australian students are not reluctant to study abroad – as a news article based on questionable data claims – but actually lead their English language-speaking peers in study visits overseas, thanks in part to smart government policy. Lukas Bischof recommends the Skolkovo Method – developed and adopted in Russia – to higher education leaders as an innovative way to drive transformation in their universities. And Winston Morgan suggests that campaigns similar to those introduced to increase the number of women and female leaders in science should be instituted to increase the number of black scientists – and eventually role models such as a black Nobel laureate in science.
   In our World Blog, Jane Knight and Hans de Wit look back and forward at the contribution internationalisation has made and will make to higher education and conclude that internationalisation has come of age.
   In our series on Pacific Rim higher education and research, Yojana Sharma unpacks a report from the Association of Pacific Rim Universities that says universities are bucking the trend of declining multilateralism in geopolitics by forming research networks that foster multilateral cooperation.
   In Features, Yojana Sharma reports on South Korea’s investment of US$2 billion to build up talent in artificial intelligence and use its universities’ strong links with industry to become a global AI powerhouse by 2022. And Wagdy Sawahel reports on calls for African universities to offer more courses to harness the power of blockchain-based innovation.
   In a Special Report on the EnlightED conference in Spain on higher education in the digital age, Paul Rigg highlights keynote speaker Michael Horn’s warning that “universities are declining” due to digital disruption taking hold. Another speaker, Joseph Aoun, suggests that universities respond by making people ‘robot proof’ through teaching ‘humanics’ and providing experiential and lifelong learning, writes Paul Rigg. More...