Title: EMPOWERING THE DIGITAL SERVICE TRADE ECOSYSTEM: THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF EDUCATION AND INTER-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC
Authors:
Jahja Hamdani Widjaja* and Ratna Widiastuti
Abstract:
This article examines how education systems and inter-university partnerships can strategically strengthen the digital service trade ecosystem across the Asia-Pacific region and guide inclusive growth. It is grounded in the region’s emergence as a central hub of global digital service trade, driven by advances in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G, and e-commerce, consolidated through regional agreements such as the CPTPP, RCEP, and DEPA, and accelerated by the post-pandemic surge in digitally deliverable exports. The study adopts a literature-based a literature-based review and comparative analysis of regional collaboration architectures (AUN, UMAP, DEPA), and then subsequently proposes five strategic propositions as a Regional Curriculum Innovation Framework. Findings reveal a persistent “strategic lag” among higher education institutions (HEIs), characterized by industrial-era curricula, limited digital pedagogy, governance inertia, and skill mismatches, despite rising graduate output and corporate demand for digital competencies. The study concludes that achieving interoperability of credentials, accreditation reform, instructor professionalization, equitable digital infrastructure, diversified funding, and multi-stakeholder governance is essential to reposition HEIs from reactive adapters to proactive architects of an integrated and inclusive digital service trade landscape.
Keywords: Digital Service Trade Ecosystem, Inter-university Collaboration, Curriculum Innovation, Asia-Pacific.
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