Digital transformation of the University as a scientific and educational corporation: institutional architecture and development subsystems

Introduction. Digital transformation has become one of the key directions in the development of higher education, setting new requirements for the organization of research, teaching and innovation activities in universities. Experience with national projects and development programmes shows that the expansion of digital infrastructure by itself does not automatically lead to the renewal of universities’ institutional mechanisms. This highlights the need for conceptual models that make it possible to analyze digital change at the level of the university as an integrated institution rather than as a set of isolated technological initiatives.

The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the digital transformation of the university as a process which, in the logic of a scientific-educational corporation, links together research, educational and innovation-entrepreneurial domains and thereby reshapes the configuration of the university as a socio-economic institution.

Theoretical background and methods. The study draws on institutional and systems approaches to the university, which frame it as a set of interconnected subsystems of research, education and innovation-entrepreneurial activity. The key analytical lens is the model of the university as a scientific-educational corporation, in which the processes of knowledge generation, competence formation and market-oriented innovation are treated as a single, interrelated development contour. Methodologically, the article represents a theoretical study and includes an analysis of policy documents and analytical reports on the digital development of universities, as well as conceptual modelling of digital changes in the three subsystems of the university and of the mechanisms of their institutional integration.

Results. The study shows that the development of digital research infrastructures and data-intensive practices may lead to a reconfiguration of research regimes and to stronger network embeddedness of university research teams. It clarifies how a digitally enabled learning environment, when integrated into university governance, can serve as an instrument for constructing individual learning trajectories and for involving students in research and project formats. In the domain of market-oriented innovation, digital platforms for project management and interaction with external partners are considered as a means of embedding entrepreneurial activity into the overall university framework. Taken together, these elements are interpreted as characteristics of a mechanism for the institutional integration of the three subsystems and for the formation of a coherent model of the university as a scientific educational corporation.

Conclusions. The article argues that the digital transformation of the university should be understood as a long-term process of institutional design rather than as a set of technical solutions. The proposed conceptual model can serve as a basis for assessing the extent to which universities’ digital initiatives contribute to the alignment of research, educational and innovation-entrepreneurial activities and to strengthening their position within the digital economy.

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