The landscape of European higher education reached a significant milestone recently with the launch of the Unite! Widening Digital Campus in November 2025, an initiative dedicated to bridging the gap between academia and industry. Important to this initiative is also Agora, a virtual platform that serves as a “meeting point” for universities, researchers, and students to engage directly with external businesses and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
A Leadership Vision: The Jesús Alcober Interview
We have realesed a comprehensive video interview featuring Jesús Alcober from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), in which Jesus Alcober articulated a long-term vision for the partnership, moving beyond high-level innovation goals to focus on local institutional impact. He presented Agora’s features as a tool that involves all stakeholders—not just academic staff and students, but also the external companies essential for innovative and research-oriented collaboration.
The platform draws its name from the ancient Greek “agora”—a central space for exchange, dialogue, and community. In its modern digital form, Agora provides a shared environment where stakeholders can access acceleration services, share resources, and contribute expertise.
One of the most critical aspects of Agora, as highlighted by Alcober, is its open-source architecture. This design choice is fundamental to maintaining digital sovereignty. By utilizing open-source tools, different university alliances can co-create digital services that are easily reusable by others. This collaborative spirit ensures that no institution is left behind, allowing all alliances to create and access services tailored to their specific needs.
Widening the Scope: Bridging Academia and Industry
While Agora began as a tool for academic collaboration, the Unite! Widening project is driving its next phase: extending its reach to industry partners. This initiative encourages SMEs and innovation hubs to engage directly with university-driven research ecosystems. This effort was showcased during hybrid launch events held in Lisbon and Wroclaw in November 2025, which focused on how the Digital Campus contributes to a more inclusive and innovative European Research Area.
