Digital University

Linz: Not much to see of the new IT:U yet

The new university should have been built here. After Linz's Deputy Mayor Dietmar Prammer said no, a new location is now being sought.(Bild: WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR / fotokerschi / picturedesk.com)

Expensive start-up instead of a hotbed of IT expertise? The series of mishaps at the Linz Digital University has industry, politics and academia very worried. 

It was exactly four years ago to the day that politicians in Linz announced something big: Chancellor (then Sebastian Kurz), Education Minister (Heinz Faßmann) and Provincial Minister Thomas Stelzer spoke of a historic step when they announced the launch of a digital university for Upper Austria. Then as now, they faced the same challenges: To keep up with the big boys in the game, you need the best of the best.