Digitalizing the pillars of Hybrid Civic Universities: A bibliometric analysis and new taxonomy proposal

Revisiting the traditional tripartite mission of Higher Education Institutions, a gap was found in the literature concerning the role played by digitalization in fostering civic universities. Based on a bibliometric analysis, a new taxonomy of Hybrid Civic Universities is proposed, in which open science and open innovation allow universities to become more civic-oriented, by reinforcing their knowledge absorptive capacity fueled by digitalization advances. The systematic literature review covers the global time frame 1980–2021, embracing a sample of 17,061 articles, which includes: (i) timeframe 1 (1980–2008) with 8702 articles; and (ii) timeframe 2 (2009–2021) with 8359 articles; collected from the Web of Science (WoS) Scopus databases. Cluster analysis identified 5 significant clusters for timeframe 1, and 4 significant clusters for timeframe 2, allowing identification of the most prominent components of Civic Universities. The new taxonomy is based on three main pillars: (I) Open Innovation; (II) Governance; and (III) Sustainability. Academic and managerial implications help to position Hybrid Civic Universities as open and hybrid hubs without walls, with a transnational orientation targeting open innovation, digital governance, and sustainable development, respecting the values of diversity and multiculturalism.