From April 23 to 24, 2024, UNESCO-ICHEI participated in the international conference titled “Science and Technology New Recovery Policy: Leveraging University Research” in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The conference was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia and seven national universities. Distinguished attendees included Mr. L.Enkh-Amgalan, Minister of Education and Science of Mongolia and member of the State Great Hural, Ms. Ch.Bolortuya, Spokesperson of Prime Minister of Mongolia, as well as other over 220 participants, including government officials, university presidents, well-known experts, scholars, representatives of international organisations and the industries. The conference received full coverage by NTV, a prominent Mongolian television channel.

On-site photo of the Conference

On April 23, Prof. Jiansheng Liang, Executive Deputy Director of UNESCO-ICHEI, delivered a keynote speech titled “Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education Innovation”. He outlined the opportunities and challenges facing higher education in the era of Artificial Intelligence(AI). Prof. Liang also introduced UNESCO-ICHEI and IIOE’s vision and practices. The key programmes include the IIOE Micro-Certification for Higher Education Teaching Personnel Project, 1+X GenAI Literacy Program, and a series of high-level regional policy dialogues focusing on the integration of GenAI in higher education. By empowering university teachers with digital teaching capabilities, the challenges posed by new technologies such as GenAI could be properly handled while the promotion of digital transformation of partner universities could also be achieved. Prof. Liang called for in-depth cooperation among stakeholders, in particular, promoting the good use of AI and improving regulations, thus constructing a partnership mechanism adaptable to the local context and advancing the integration of AI in higher education.

Prof. Liang Jiansheng delivering a keynote speech

During the conference, the IIOE training programme, titled “Creating Effective Learning Materials for Basic STEM Courses Using Lightboard”, was officially launched. Mr. L. Enkh-Amgalan, Minister of Education and Science of Mongolia and a member of the State Great Hural, watched the demo and had a brief discussion with Prof. Liang Jiansheng. The lightboard system comprises a transparent glass board for writing, a camera, and real-time video synthesis and display equipment. It provides a novel tool for creating online and blended course videos.

Presenting IIOE training programme to Mr. L.Enkh-Amgalan

Prof. Danaa Ganbat, MUST Open Education Centre Director (Left)

and Prof. Jiansheng Liang, Executive Deputy Director of UNESCO-ICHEI (Right)

At the side event “Open Education 2024” workshop on 24 April 2024, Mr. Mingshun Xu, Programme Officer at UNESCO-ICHEI, delivered a thematic presentation. He shared the cases of collaboration between UNESCO-ICHEI and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST, IIOE Mongolian National Centre) and the actions adopted by UNESCO-ICHEI to support partner universities in promoting digital transformation.

On-site photo of 'Open Education 2024' workshop