As reported in the 3 December 1999 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Alan Gilbert, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne and founder of Universitas 21, says the global network of schools adds value to the strategies corporations are developing. Murdoch says News International recently established Worldwide Learning , an offshoot dedicated to delivering distance-education programs online. He thinks that education is going to be a very big part of the Internet, Four other corporate companies are said to be negotiating partnership agreements with Universitas 21 . He predicts that the growth of e-learning will rise steadily for two and a half years, then take off.
Chambers cites a similar scenario with e-commerce.
The Open University in the UK has also formed a distance education consortium with the Western Governors University in the USA called the Governors Open University System. The new organisation will serve as a front end for both universities, and students enrolled in either, will be able to take courses through the other. The Western Governors University which opened its virtual doors in 1997, grants degrees and certifications based on assessments of competency. It is a virtual university that aims to deliver cost-effective education using the Internet and other advanced telecommunications and networking technologies. The Business of Borderless Education Project is examining the impact of corporate and virtual providers on higher education provision in a global environment in the US, Europe and the Commonwealth.