Internationally, Davis is an immediate chair past of Universitas 21, a grouping of 24 leading universities from around the globe, a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a member of the Hong Kong Grants Commission until 31 December 2010 and a director of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King’s College London.
While UNSW Vice-Chancellor, he was a foundation director of Universitas 21 and of Australia 's Group of Eight Universities. He also served a term as president of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee, and as a member of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
A major part of its work was to be producing curriculum for distance education courses to be delivered through the Universitas 21 platform, and latterly in its own right.
In 2001 Sohar University became affiliated to the University of Queensland (UQ), a member of Universitas 21, to ensure that its academic activities meet international standards.
Universitas 21, an international network of research-intensive universities