The "BGI Group · 2025 IIOE Digital Higher Education Digitalisation Pioneer Case Award" (hereinafter referred to as the "Pioneer Award") has officially announced its winners. Since its launch, the award has garnered wide attention, receiving 66 valid submissions from 29 countries around the world. A total of 22 outstanding cases from Asia, Africa, and Latin America stood out, including 12 from overseas higher education institutions, 4 from Chinese universities, and 6 from enterprises.

The theme of the 2025 Pioneer Award is "IIOE Ecosystem-driven Promising Practices: Empowering Workforce, Innovation, and Collaboration", which aims to recognise achievements of teams and individuals of IIOE partners, who are pioneering IIOE flagship projects to facilitate digital transformation. The award received submissions in four key areas as followed, Developing Digital and AI Competencies through IIOE Micro-certification, Enabling Localised Digital Empowerment Initiatives through IIOE National Centres, Leveraging Smart Classroom Operations for Teaching and Learning Innovation and Excellence, Strengthening Global Industry-University Collaboration for Higher Education Digital Empowerment. The award aims to identify leading teams and individuals driving digital transformation in IIOE flagship projects.

In this edition, we introduce four outstanding cases from East and Southeast Asia in the Category1: Developing Digital and AI Competencies through IIOE Micro-certification.

What is the IIOE Micro-Certification Project？

The IIOE Micro-Certification Project for Higher Education Workforce Digital Competency Building (IIOE Micro-Certification Project) is a mechanism developed by UNESCO-ICHEI and IIOE to provide and certify just-in-time learning for higher education professionals in digital and AI skills. As a more flexible approach to acknowledge different types of professional learning, the IIOE Micro-certification Project offers a comprehensive mechanism including: recommendations for institutional policy and strategy planning, recognition-building, content development, and reference competency framework. With such support, HEIs will be able to provide a robust system uploding the AI competency development of the workforce.

Case 1 "AI+X" Pioneer: AI Upskilling for Global Higher Education through IIOE Micro-Certification

Project Background

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes various sectors including higher education, many teaching personnel still lack basic AI literacy. The team from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) recognized that this gap not only hinders the exploration of AI applications in teaching practices, curriculum development, and institutional management, but also limits the realization of educational innovation and equity. Professor Liu Jiang's team was the first to undertake student-centered AI literacy teaching, helping students understand that the evolution of technology is transforming medical teaching models and diagnostic methods. The team developed and promoted the "AI+" courses through the IIOE platform based on the experience of success in SUSTech, aiming to provide higher education professionals with systematic support in AI fundamentals and practical applications. The goal is to empower them to enhance the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of education using AI.

Project Implementation

SUSTech's IIOE micro-certification program is based on the "AI+" series of courses developed through the IIOE platform. Focusing on practicality, interdisciplinarity, and accessibility, the courses cover areas such as education and medicine, helping learners bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and real-world application of AI. The courses are designed with a progressive, practice-oriented approach and integrate ethical considerations. This not only enhances the technical capabilities of higher education professionals but also strengthens their sense of responsibility. Additionally, by leveraging multilingual resources and digital courseware, the project has reached a global audience of higher education professionals, including those in resource-limited regions.

Project Outcomes

The IIOE micro-certification program developed by the SUSTech team has achieved remarkable outcomes in building educational resources, enhancing competencies, and improving accessibility. The project has successfully launched two micro-certification courses on the IIOE platform in both English and French. Within a few months of launch, the bilingual versions attracted a total of 353 learners. The team also developed a comprehensive set of multilingual digital teaching resources suitable for learners from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the two courses integrated cross-disciplinary knowledge, linking computer science with educational theory and medical diagnostics, to offer innovative upskilling pathways for higher education professionals. By balancing innovation and equity in practice, the project continues to support the digital transformation of higher education.

Jury's Comments: "Expanding from enhancing AI competencies in medical education to broadly improving AI capabilities among higher education professionals represents a methodological innovation. By taking a discipline-based approach, it ensures a close integration of technology, pedagogy, and subject matter." 

Case 2 IIOE Ecosystem-Driven Promising Practices: Empowering Workforce, Innovation, and Collaboration

Project Background

As Mongolia accelerates the implementation of its digital transformation strategy, the number of higher education institutions(HEI) and university students has grown rapidly. To meet the rising demand for higher education, there is an urgent need to modernize educational infrastructure. Although Mongolia has launched an AI-integrated education strategy and increased investment in digital infrastructure, it still faces several challenges: uneven levels of digital readiness, insufficient AI literacy among teachers, and a lack of localized digital education resources. These issues are further magnified by Mongolia's vast territory and the significant disparity in educational needs between urban and rural areas.

Project Implementation

To address these challenges, the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), under Mongolia's national policy framework, launched the IIOE Micro-Certification Project in collaboration with partners such as the UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (UNESCO-ICHEI). In response to issues such as uneven distribution of educational resources, significant disparities in teaching capacity, and the scarcity of course materials in the local language, MUST actively assumed the role of local implementation. Leveraging its network influence, the university selected key faculty members to undergo training on the IIOE platform. These trained educators later became local content developers, redesigning course materials suited to the Mongolian context. With the support of the Ministry of Education, localized micro-certifications were integrated into both pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in higher education. This project aims to advance Mongolia's digital transformation and educational reform, and to promote an inclusive agenda for equitable and quality education.

Project Outcomes

The IIOE Micro-Certification Project in Mongolia exemplifies the combination of innovation and localization. Through a multi-stage cascade training model, the project effectively enhanced the digital competencies of higher education teachers and promoted institutional capacity building, knowledge transfer, and system innovation. A total of 1,892 teachers from 38 universities across Mongolia participated in the training, with 520 obtaining AI micro-certification. The project selected 22 lead instructors and successfully localized three international AI courses into Mongolian, completing textbook translation, cultural adaptation, and the development of localized teaching resources.

Adopting a blended learning model tailored to Mongolia's context, including offline modules, regional workshops (engaging 870 teachers), and peer mentoring circles, the project facilitated participation among teachers from rural and under-resourced areas, demonstrating equity and accessibility in education. The three core AI courses have now been designated as national-level training resources and are available on the IIOE platform. Survey data shows that over 90% of teachers and more than 85% of students were satisfied with the relevance of course content and its practical application in teaching.

Jury's Comments: "The Micro-Certification Project in Mongolia has demonstrated transformative impact across multiple dimensions—individual educator development, institutional strengthening, and national-level policy integration."

Case 3 Developing Digital & AI Competencies through IIOE Micro-Certification: Integrating National-Level Micro-Credentials and Certified Independents Study by the IIOE Indonesia Natioanl Centre

Project Background

With a population of 270 million and the geographically dispersed nature of its archipelago, Indonesia faces significant challenges in achieving educational equity and improving teacher competencies. In response, the Indonesia Cyber Education Institute (ICE-I) has leveraged its MOOC platform to advance the vision of "Kampus Merdeka" (Freedom Campus), aiming to enhance access to quality higher education across the entire country.

Project Implementation

As of 2024, the ICE-I MOOC platform, in collaboration with the non-profit edX network, has accumulated over 7,000 course enrollments, with a total learning time exceeding 16,000 hours. ICE-I has also partnered with UNESCO-ICHEI and IIOE to develop a national-level micro-certification program. To date, 420 faculty members from seven Indonesian universities have participated in online training, with 191 receiving official micro-certification. This has significantly improved their digital teaching competencies and provided high-quality professional development opportunities. Students from various regions of Indonesia have completed over 1,000 courses, earning hundreds of professional and/or micro-certificates. More than 85% of surveyed students reported that the ICE-I MOOC platform has significantly improved their practical skills, and the ICE-I-issued certificates are widely recognized by employers.

Project Outcomes

By integrating global MOOC resources, ICE-I is driving teaching reforms in higher education, enhancing the flexibility and quality of degree programs, and promoting educational equity between urban and rural areas. This demonstrating its commitment to inclusive and quality education for all. Its newly launched micro-certification programs are closely aligned with job market demands, strengthening graduates' employability and technical skills while supporting the development of Indonesia's digital economy. The ICE-I model showcases strong innovation and leadership, attracting international attention and earning a place in the Global MOOCs Alliance. Several countries are now studying ICE-I's approaches to credit recognition and micro-certification.

Jury's Comments: "These practices – strategic alignment withnational vision, strong partnerships, and a focus on learner-centered credit pathways – are behind ICE-I's success and offer a model for similar initiatives."

Case 4 Accelerating Malaysia's Higher Education Digital Transformation through the IIOE National Centre

Project Background

The accelerated digital transformation of the education sector has placed greater demands on higher education teachers and their skillsets. In response to pressing challenges, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) aims to empower educators througha holistic, competency-based framework. This initiative is designed to build institutional capacity and foster scalable, strategic development of digital capabilities within the higher education workforce.

Project Implementation

UPM's IIOE Micro-Certification Project follows a structured framework encompassing five key areas: Platform Integration and Content Development, Delivery via Hybrid and Flexible Modes, Data-Driven Monitoring and Support, Knowledge Dissemination and Scaling, and Localization & Policy Integration. To date, over 200 UPM faculty members have completed at least one course, with 92% expressing satisfaction with course relevance and delivery methods. The project has produced four micro-certification courses, HyFlex and AI-assisted learning toolkits, innovative digital systems, and nationally scalable knowledge resources such as webinars and workshop materials.

Furthermore, the UPM team has collaborated across sectors with the Malaysian Technical University Network (MTUN), industry partners, and TVET certification bodies to coordinate the development of digital micro-credential curricula focused on agriculture and food security. This work is part of the Digital Educator Micro-credentials project under IIOE Malaysia National Centre, which has generated localised course content for AgriTech and TVET educators, along with digital learning packages hosted on the IIOE and UPM platforms.

Project Outcomes

UPM's IIOE Micro-Certification project has had a positive impact on multiple levels. At the institutional level, it has enhanced the digital and AI-related competencies of higher education professionals and established a structured, competency-based model for digital training. As IIOE Malaysia National Centre, the UPM has also enabled cross-institutional collaboration networks, strengthening collective capacity for digital transformation across universities. At the national level, the project has supported policy discussions on micro-credential recognition, helped align micro-certification programs with policy agendas, informed the development of digital educator training strategies, and sparked broader dialogue on the role of AI in Malaysian education.

Jury's Comments: "This project is a good demonstration of AI competency and Digital competency building locally in Malaysia. With the support of IIOE Malaysia National Centre, UPM and the university network(MTUN, Malaysia Technical University Network) adopted the micro-certification model to expand the impact of competency training. This practice demonstrates further demonstration by effectively integrating the mechanism with Agricultural Technology disciplines.

The above are some outstanding practice cases from East Asia and Southeast Asia in the Category1: Developing Digital and AI Competencies through IIOE Micro-certification of this year's Pioneer Award. These cases demonstrate the innovative explorations and localized achievements of educational institutions in different countries in empowering higher education teachers, providing valuable references for the digital transformation of global higher education.