Advances, Opportunities, and Challenges in the Digital Transformation of HEIs in Latin America

The information society is characterized by the information data conversion and the information in knowledge to support the decision making and the human development. In this sense, the digital transformation implies not only the use of technology to store data, but also a change of processes and organizational culture, allowing the entry of knowledge management into the new economy of the intangibles. This transformation has changed the game rules of socio-technical systems of organizations and their interrelationships, impacting different components of organizations. Advance in adapting the transformation in organizations has not been symmetrical in all sectors and regions of the world. Previous research shows that in education in Latin America the degree of incorporation has been less than in other economic sectors and zones of the world. That is why, the objective of study is the identification and analysis of the progress achieved by the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of the region, concerning digital transformation of their academic and management processes, besides recognizing their opportunities and challenges in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The methodology includes a qualitative approach. To collect the information, the document analysis technique is used, and the main factor is the searching through reference database and complete text. Data analysis is made in accordance with the pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, central and management, digital transformation enablers of missionary, and support processes of the HEIs. The results show that, while it is true that the HEIs in Latin America lag behind their peers in other countries, it is found that, from 2018, the progress on the digital transformation of processes of the HEIs in Latin America has been very significant. The main impact is given in the incorporation of pillars of industry 4.0 in: graduation, using blockchain; teaching, collaborative virtual reality; artificial intelligence to assist students; university management, through virtual assistants; and research supported by robotic. Improvement of cyber-physical and big data systems is not evident. It is concluded that digital transformation of the HEIs in Latin America is in the phase of early adoption, with some successful cases of the main reference HEIs, top-ranked in the academic ranking of the region, which will probably be imitated by other HEIs. The main challenges for the digital transformation of the HEIs in Latin America are related to culture, resistance to change, the hierarchical government, and the understanding that information is the key asset of the knowledge society. A new opportunity emerges for the digital transformation of HEIs in Latin America and for the researchers of the topic.