On December 17th 2022, the second Governing Board (GB) of theInternational Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices ofUNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) convened its third session in a hybrid mode at theSouthern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China.

The participating GB members included (in alphabetical order) Mr.CHEN Yidan, core founder of Tencent, founder of Tencent Charity Foundation,founder of Yidan Prize, and founder of Wuhan College; Mr. CHEN Zhifeng, DeputyDirector of Shenzhen Education Bureau (on behalf of the GB member Mr. CHENQiuming); Mr. Freddy Boey, Deputy President of National University ofSingapore; Mr. LI Ming, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI; Mr. LU Chun, Vice Presidentand Chief Operating Officer of SUSTech (on behalf of the GB member Mr. XUEQikun); Mr. QIN Changwei, Secretary-General of the National Commission of Chinafor UNESCO; and Mr. Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Beijing Office. Mr. CHENZhifeng presided over the meeting.

Also present at the meeting were Ms. HAN Wei, Executive DeputyDirector of UNESCO-ICHEI, Mr. LYU Feng, Assistant Director and Chief of IIOEManagement Centre of UNESCO-ICHEI and other members of UNESCO-ICHEI.

Three issues constituted the GB meeting’s agenda: 1) UNESCO-ICHEI’swork report for 2022 and work plan for 2023; 2) Report on the budget executionof UNESCO-ICHEI in 2022; and 3) Report on the IIOE’s three-year achievementsand future development plans.

Group photo of the meeting

Director LI Ming delivered UNESCO-ICHEI’s work report for 2022 andwork plan for 2023. In 2022, UNESCO-ICHEI has endeavored in seven areas withsolid achievements: it 1) sent a delegation to attend the World HigherEducation Conference 2022; 2) successfully concluded the UNESCO-ShenzhenFunds-In-Trust (SFIT) Africa Project; 3) launched the IIOE Platform 2.0 andestablished eight IIOE National Centres; 4) completed the phase-I and phase-IIsmart classrooms; 5) conducted research on teachers’ blended teaching withinthe context of higher education digital transformation; 6) further expanded itsglobal partnership network; and 7) steadily advanced the renewal process ofUNESCO-ICHEI as a UNESCO category 2 centre. On this basis, in 2023 UNESCO-ICHEIplans to 1) steadily advance the renewal process and complete in time thesigning of the renewal agreement of UNESCO-ICHEI; 2) conduct a feasibilitystudy of the SFIT Phase-II Project in an orderly manner; 3) continuously scaleup the Smart Classroom Project; 4) comprehensively develop the platform andcontent of IIOE; 5) enhance its role as a higher education think thank withinUNESCO family; 6) improve international communication and raise its globalinfluence; and 7) refine its organizational structure for better workingefficiency.

Executive Deputy Director HAN Wei reported on the budget executionof UNESCO-ICHEI in 2022. Data and statistics tell that the overall budgetexecution of UNESCO-ICHEI was satisfactory - the income and expenditure ofbudget strictly complied with the procedures and were reasonable, funds wereraised from diversified channels, and a sound and sustainable development modelhas gradually come into being.

Assistant Director LYU Feng reported on the IIOE’s three-yearachievements and future development plans. Having been shaped into an onlinelearning platform for developing countries to empower university teachers’digital competency in higher education teaching, IIOE will strive tomaterialize its goal in the next stage to benefit more than 30 countries, 100universities, and 100,000 university teachers.

All participating GB members deliberated on and discussed the abovereports before presenting their opinions and proposals. They highly appreciatedthe brilliant work and achievements of UNESCO-ICHEI in the past year.

Mr. Shahbaz Khan noted that the future developmentof higher education cannot be sustained without innovation in digitaltransformation, and UNESCO-ICHEI is expected to apply information andcommunication technologies to benefit more higher education institutions(HEIs). He spoke highly of UNESCO-ICHEI’s work plan and future vision, andhoped UNESCO-ICHEI would thoroughly understand UNESCO’s key strategies andobjectives while keeping in touch with UNESCO Headquarters, Beijing Office andother regional offices to jointly forge ahead. He also expressed best wishesfor the renewal process.

Mr. QIN Changwei pointed out that despite the rising instabilityand uncertainty worldwide, UNESCO-ICHEI still attained manifold hard-earningbut outstanding results, which was truly inspiring. He put forward four piecesof advice: UNESCO-ICHEI is supposed to 1) continue to focus on the digitaltransformation of higher education while also setting eyes on other aspects ofthe transformation of education; 2) further expand global partnership; 3) carryout more international exchange in the new circumstances; and 4) promoteinternal organizational development while contributing to the country’sadvocacy to train more international organization talents.

Mr. LU Chun, on behalf of Mr. XUE Qikun, said that UNESCO-ICHEI’sachievements are remarkable. In spite of the impact of the pandemic,UNESCO-ICHEI overcame many daunting difficulties to conduct internationalexchanges and convey its own voices. Such a spirit is valuable. He is lookingforward to deeper cooperation between UNESCO-ICHEI and SUSTech in terms ofinternational communication, especially with specific colleges of SUSTech. Hepromised SUSTech would support UNESCO-ICHEI as it has been doing to jointlyadvance the internationalization of both sides.

Mr. Freddy Boey thought highly of UNESCO-ICHEI’s work results andwas honored to witness these achievements. He noted that COVID-19 to someextent has promoted the growth of online and remote education, so he totallyagreed with the work plan of UNESCO-ICHEI's which he believed will have a greatpotential in the post-COVID era. He was expecting UNESCO-ICHEI as a qualityinternationalized platform would carry forward its splendid tradition tocontinue its profound influence.

Mr. CHEN Yidan said that in the context of theglobal pandemic, UNESCO-ICHEI made a balance between practice and research withsubstantial results attained. For instance, IIOE, as an epitome of practices,has provided real quality education resources to partner HEIs; in the meantime,research on higher education digital transformation has yielded fruitfuloutcomes that can serve as guidance of practices. In addition, UNESCO-ICHEI wasactively engaged in international events where it took the initiative to conveyits voices to earn international recognition. All these showcased the abundantresilience and accurate position-setting of UNESCO-ICHEI.

Director LI Ming expressed appreciation to other GB members fortheir constructive inputs prior to brief responses to each of them. He vowedthat UNESCO-ICHEI would carefully analyze these insights, improve the work planfor 2023, and implement the plan letter by letter.

Mr. CHEN Zhifeng made a summary. He proposed three suggestions:UNESCO-ICHEI should 1) continue to deeply participate in the construction ofthe Belt and Road, and accelerate the formation of a characteristic platform inShenzhen to serve the Belt and Road Initiative; 2) build an internationalizedplatform of higher education in Shenzhen and promote the development ofShenzhen’s higher education through opening and cooperation; and 3) takeadvantage of current global partnership network and resources to usher in moreinternational organizations to locate in Shenzhen.