It is called United, Italian Telematic and Digital Universities, and it is the first association of Italian digital universities born with the objectives of “promoting access to university education, making the academic path more flexible and promoting the digital transformation of the Italian university system”. Seven Italian digital universities have contributed to the birth of this reality: Pegaso Telematic University, Mercatorum Telematic University, San Raffaele Telematic University of Rome, Iul Telematic University, eCampus University, Leonardo Da Vinci Telematic University and “Giustino Fortunato” Telematic University.
The association aims to represent “every university that shares and undertakes to affirm the principle of university autonomy, investing in particular in technological innovation and new forms of teaching and research”. And it proposes to become a consultative body of the Ministry of University and Research for institutional and regulatory issues concerning the interests of the category. «The creation of this association is a fundamental step in the development process of online universities. Digital universities represent an opportunity for our country, which is still behind in university training and in the development of technologies applied to teaching methodologies compared to other European countries – explains the new president of United, former president of Anvur, Paolo Miccoli -. To overcome the large gap in the number of graduates in Italy, it is essential to invest in a widespread, flexible and accessible university system, promoting the digital transition of knowledge and enhancing the work done so far by digital universities”.