Corporate Digital Responsibility—Understanding and Applying

The digital transformation initiated by digitalization leads to an unstoppable process of change in all areas of society including universities. The effects of the corona pandemic accelerated this process but at the same time uncovered deficits and uncertainties with regarding the correct handling of digitalization. Resulting social phenomena arise that have not been considered in the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Therefore, this scientific contribution provides a solution proposal for the further development of the CSR concept into the Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) concept, taking into account economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainability both in the physical and digital living environment. Building on this, the scenario technique of the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection is transferred into the university context to offer an example on how universities can responsibly design their future digitalization strategy. While the findings show that the scenario technique can be applied to contexts other than companies, they also show that for the successful transfer of CDR into university practice, a close exchange between universities and the state with regard to a clear allocation of responsibilities must take place.