On June 2nd, 2023, delegation of the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) co-organized the establishment ceremony of IIOE National Centre in Uzbekistan, which was held at the Tashkent University of Information Technologies in Uzbekistan. Assoc. Prof. Sultanov Djamshid Bahodirovich, 1st Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of TUIT, and Prof. HAN Wei, Executive Deputy Director of ICHEI officially signed the agreement to establish the 1st IIOE National Centre in Central Asia. Mr. Bakhtiyor Namazov, Chief of Education Sector at UNESCO National Office in Tashkent, was present and witnessed the establishment of IIOE National Centre in Uzbekistan.

Representatives of TUIT extended their greetings on the arrival of ICHEI's delegation, and introduced the TUIT in detail about its development, overall achievments, and a series of international cooperation with various HEIs, enterprises, and institutions. Prof. HAN Wei mentioned in her speech that TUIT, being one of the most advanced universities in ICT talent cultivation of Uzbekistan as well as Central Asia, is the first HEI in Central Asia that has established a formal partnership with ICHEI. Both parties have signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2022, and have since made profound achievements in the fields of joint regional research report, CLOUD, IIOE training programme on cloud computing, and a series of regional meetings and activities.

Representatives of both parties agreed to establish the IIOE National Centre in Uzbekistan as the national basis and work on the principle of "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits". They reached a consensus on the overall aspiration that both parties will mobilize resources as a way to build the capacity in blended learning among Uzbekistani HEI teachers in the context of higher education digital transformation, and officially signed the cooperative agreement on IIOE National Centre in Uzbekistan.

After the ceremony, led by TUIT's representatives, the ICHEI's delegation visited the campus, including the Center for Digital Learning Technologies and other digital educational facilities.

About Tashkent University of Information Technologies Tashkent University of Information Technologies, founded in 1995, was the largest university that focused on telecommunications and information, and the 1st university of information technologies in Central Asia. It aims to improve the system at the level of international standards on training highly qualified specialists in the field of ICT. TUIT has established cooperation with 26 foreign countries’ (such as South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, India) 42 universities, 8 research centers, 12 companies and organizations, and signed 73 MoUs. Thanks to international cooperation in recent years, there 16 teaching laboratories, 9 computer classrooms, 4 education centers: the Uzbek-Indian Center of Information Technologies, Uzbek-Korean Center for Information Technologies, "Plaza" Uzbek-Korean Center, regional academic center "CISCO" have been formed. University’s multimedia classes equipped with a View Sonic interactive projector and modern tools.