Tobias Ekenstam
Get to know Tobias Ekenstam who is deputy IT manager at University West and works with how the STARS EU Alliance can build a joint campus - digitally and physically.
Hi Tobias! What is your role within STARS EU?
I work with work package 5, which is about how we build a joint campus - both physically and digitally. It is not about building new lecture halls or meeting rooms, but rather about sharing the resources we have and making it visible to everyone that we are part of a European university. My primary focus is on the digital campus.
What does it mean to create a "digital campus"? What is the purpose?
We are nine universities in the alliance – each with their own set of systems, standards and laws to adhere to. Our goal is that the digital campus will become a platform that explains who we are, what we do and a place to conduct research and teaching. The digital campus also aims to enable our teachers and students to conduct and participate in education with as few technical difficulties as possible.
It is certainly a challenge. It’s become clear that the partners within the STARS alliance are at very different levels of both equipment and competence when it comes to conducting teaching digitally. At University West we have come quite far in this area, so it's great that we can contribute with knowledge and experience.
There is also talk of a digital campus that will be characterized by "co-creation". What does that mean?
We want to create a creative and inspiring environment that promotes interaction between academia, working life and society. It's a huge task, but we're taking baby steps forward.