In a post back in 2006 entitled What business are we in?, I suggested that a broader definition of the business of higher education might be Knowledge Management. At the time, the pieces were not in place to envisage how such a definition might usefully extend the roles of the university. Some key pieces now seem to be in place. Lifelong post- baccalaureate learning has become a career necessity for an ever-increasing number of workers; employers are struggling to hire and retain employees with skill sets needed to meet challenges and opportunities created by rapidly developing technologies and pressures of globalization; the development of competency based stackable modules has opened up the potential for just-in-time learning that meets career needs of learners and simultaneously fits with knowledge needs of employers; and the centrality of the traditional academic degree hierarchy is being challenged by development of competency-based descriptions of workforce needs. The present COVID -19 upheaval of life in general has upended the job market, and the eventual recovery of the economy can perhaps be facilitated by a universities playing a more expansive role in meeting knowledge needs of industry. This post considers how a Knowledge Management role for universities might be envisaged today.
