For centuries, innovation in education has been led by powerful and influential countries. That could be set to change, however, with today's developing nations primed to lead the charge. Vice Provost (Research) and Professor of Information Systems (Practice) Steven Miller commented, "Countries that must deal with very large numbers of people entering into, or already part of the first through 12th grade foundational education system will be forced to do interesting things — even if they are not 'rich' countries in terms of GDP levels and economic development". However, traditional higher education offers offline experiences that will simply be challenging to replicate in the digital space. "Organised educational settings and programmes give us a social environment within which we educate ourselves, and this social context has phenomenally great importance," he said. Prof Miller suggested that strong universities play a multiplicity of roles within a nation's ecosystem, while some even go on to play significant global roles. This is, in his opinion, something that online courses are unlikely to erode or displace. "That is why universities have endured over the past 1,000 years, and will continue to endure for the next 1,000 in one form or another," he said, acknowledging that "there will be a lot of change, and there will be a changing competitive landscape and dynamics."