3rd African ICT Best Practices Forum

June 17 – 19, 2010, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Hosted by the Government of Burkina Faso
www.africaictbestpractices.net

In an increasingly connected world, cyber security presents a significant challenge at a global level for operators, service providers, users from all sectors, including the public sector. As a result of this development, the 3rd African ICT Best Practices Forum will focus on this important issue, as this year’s theme reads: Cyber Security To Build User Confidence in the Information Society Services in Africa.

This pan-African Forum will provide the opportunity for participants to learn about the cyber security environment as well as build awareness of its challenges. The global dimension of this issue linked with international cooperation, greater regional integration, and the role of institutions such as the ITU and the European Union will be presented. What strategies do African countries need to develop? What is the role of African regional institutions in enabling these strategies? How are these strategies implemented to accelerate the sustainable development of the continent? What are the best practices, which can be adapted and/or replicated across the continent? These are some of the questions that this Forum intends on answering.

The African ICT Best Practices Forum offers a platform where African leaders can meet, share their particular experiences, and showcase concrete examples of technology solutions that have succeeded in their respective countries. This biennial event also serves as an enabler to replicate solutions in light of the short supply of skills in the region. International experts will also present relevant experiences from countries outside of the continent.

Leaders from the public sector, international financial organisations and donor institutions, international governmental organisations and civil society, as well as private sector representatives are expected to attend the Forum.

The Forum an initiative of Microsoft, organised in partnership with the Government of Burkina Faso with support from the European Union.

EU Projects in Favour of the ROMA community

CONFERENCE
EDUCATION, CULTURE, YOUTH BEST PRACTICES

March 10–11, 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Logistics organised by ICWE

The conference, hosted by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture, discusses the involvement and impact of EU programmes with the Roma minority. A selection of best examples of projects related to the Roma people will be exhibited and also discussed in workshops. This initiative marks a substantial contribution to the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

Going Global 4 – The UK's International Education Conference

2010 Theme:
World Potential: Making Education meet the challenge.
Central London, March 24-26, 2010
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
www.britishcouncil.org/goingglobal-gg4-themes

The British Council held its 4th Going Global conference (GG4) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London 24 - 26 March 2010. The conference theme was WORLD POTENTIAL: MAKING EDUCATION MEET THE CHALLENGE. Going Global provides customised content targeted at professionals in the international education community, including heads of universities, colleges, senior managers, academic staff, international directors and practitioners, business leaders and policy makers. The conference attracted a record number of delegates, totalling 1200 from more than 70 countries, providing a truly global forum. This year’s exhibition was the largest to date, with over 30 exhibitors from the UK, Australia, USA, Germany, Spain and Italy. The conference explored the trends and implications, models for change and drew on case studies from across the world, it examined the barriers and delivered frameworks for action across the following areas:

• Staff and student mobility
• Global partnerships
• Global citizens
• Policy and Leadership

EAIE Exhibition

22nd EAIE (European Association for International Education) Annual Conference
September 15 – 18, 2010, Nantes, France

Exhibition organised by ICWE
www.eaie.org

The European Association for International Education’s annual conference and exhibition is a key event for all higher education professionals working in the field of internationalisation. At the EAIE Exhibition, which has been organised by ICWE on behalf of EAIE since 1991, education-related organisations present their products, services and activities. This is a fabulous networking opportunity for conference participants.

School Forum 2009

1st Berlin Forum on Technology and Learning Trends for Schools
December 2, 2009, Berlin
www.online-educa.com/schoolforum/

This dedicated ICT event for primary and secondary school principals and teachers is organised in conjunction with BITS 21 im fjs e.V. Inspiring speakers will introduce, explain and debate the latest developments and trends in education and technology. Practical and interactive sessions will support the implementation of useful ICT tools and resources in educational institutions.This half-day forum on December 2nd (12:00 – 18:00) will be offered to principals and teachers of all primary and secondary schools of Berlin and Brandenburg. The School Forum will provide an interesting common platform to discuss challenges and solutions in the field of ICT and will be free of charge for teachers, educators and teacher trainees.

The 2009 UNESCO World Conference on higher education

Theme: The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development
July 5-8, 2009
Hall Ségur at UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France
www.icwe.net/unesco-wche2009/exhibition/

We were honoured to assist the highly prestigious UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) with their “2009 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education”, which took place from July 5-8, 2009.

With an attendance of over 1,500 participants, this was an exciting opportunity to discuss the future of higher education and research.

This year’s themes included:

• rapid growth in student numbers
• surge in private provision
• emerging new dynamics and their policy implications
• social responsibility of higher education
• the promotion of equity, innovation and research

Ten years after the first World Conference on Higher Education in 1998, participants at the 2009 Conference reaffirmed the role of higher education in meeting global challenges - from poverty eradication to sustainable development - while examining strategies to improve access, equity and quality.

21st EAIE (European Association for International Education) Annual Conference

September 16 – 19, 2009, Madrid, Spain

Exhibition organised by ICWE
www.eaie.org/Madrid/

The European Association for International Education’s annual conference and exhibition is a key event for all higher education professionals working in the field of internationalisation. At the EAIE Exhibition, which is organised by ICWE on behalf of EAIE since 1991, education-related organisations present their products, services and activities. This is a fabulous networking opportunity for conference participants. This year’s exhibition will be the largest to date with more than 1500m².

48th session of the International Conference on Education (ICE)

November 25 – 28, 2008
International Conference Centre, Geneva, Switzerland

Exhibition organised by ICWE
http://www.icwe.net/ice-unesco/exhibition/

The 48th session of the International Conference on Education (ICE) took place in Geneva, the 25 to 28 November, 2008. The theme “Inclusive Education: the Way of the Future”, was a huge success.

The conference was a unique occasion to advance education in the world as it assembled a highly exclusive audience, which targeted:

• Ministers of Education,
• Government representatives,
• Civil society and international organisations.

It served as an opportunity to set agendas for concrete action in the field of education on an international, national and regional level.

The accompanying exhibition offered a platform for engaging stakeholders such as UN agencies, NGOs and other civil society institutions, as well as the private sector. Under the theme “Practicing Inclusion”, the accompanying exhibition to the ICE offered a highly attractive learning space where participants got acquainted with innovative experiences and interacted, shared visions as well as insights and acquired relevant information and materials.

20th EAIE (European Association for International Education) Annual Conference

September 10 – 13, 2008, Antwerp, Belgium

Exhibition organised by ICWE
www.eaie.org/Antwerp/

The EAIE and the University of Antwerp welcomed almost 3000 international educators in Antwerp for the 20th Annual EAIE Conference. This was one of the biggest annual events for international education professionals. The accompanying exhibition represented more than 260 education-related organisations from 40 countries and was an excellent place to make new contacts and to learn about new programmes, products and publications in the field of international education.

Microsoft Leadership Lecture Series

1st Lecture Featuring Dr. Alioune Sall, Executive Director of the African Futures Institute
January 30, 2008, Bamako, Mali

2nd Lecture Featuring Dr. Alioune Sall, Executive Director of the African Futures Institute
May 19, 2008, Salon Orsay de l’Hôtel Hilton, Paris

Hosted by Microsoft
http://www.icwe.net/microsoft[...]

The Microsoft Leadership Lecture Series will assemble African leaders and masterminds from various backgrounds, who will hold guest lectures at African universities. Topics will cover social and political issues as well as feature great ideas on innovation, technology, education and business on the Continent. The event targets students, academic staff, post-graduates and researchers at African universities, people involved in the economical, political or social life as well as all who wish to actively contribute to Africa’s future. With this unique event series Microsoft actively supports intellectual leadership in Africa.

2nd African ICT Best Practices Forum

April 21 – 23, 2008, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Hosted by Microsoft MEA
www.ictbestpractices.net

This Forum is an initiative of Microsoft, organised in partnership with the Government of Burkina Faso with support from the European Union.

This year the event continued with the overarching theme of e-government while showcasing all new examples of the most innovative projects implemented in the public sector from across Africa, as well as in other emerging market regions. The event, which is now pan-African, presented an impressive display of the novel uses of technology from the African continent and beyond. The Forum presents a unique opportunity for private sector representatives to meet with top representatives of government, donor organisations, civil society and international governmental organisations in an environment that encourages one-on-one communication, allowing them to discuss potential commercial partnerships.

Given the public sector focus of this event, expected participants included Government leaders (heads of state, ministers of government, IT agency heads), International Financial Organisations (such as World Bank, the African Development Bank), Bilateral donor organisations (such as USAID, DFID, GTZ, JICA, SIDA, etc), IGOs (such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, NEPAD), the private sector (including partner technology firms, etc) as well as Civil society representatives (e.g. academia and NGOs).

19th EAIE (European Association for International Education) Annual Conference

September 12 – 15, 2007, Trondheim, Norway

Exhibition organised by ICWE
www.eaie.org

With over 2200 participants, the 19th Annual EAIE Conference, recently held in Trondheim, was a great success. World-renowned keynote speakers, a high quality programme of sessions and workshops, an informative day on Norwegian higher education provided participants with a wealth of up-to-date information on international education. Additionally, the new Networking Area, the major EAIE Exhibition and special speed networking session all offered great opportunities to make new contacts.

1st African ICT Best Practices Forum

June 7 –– 9, 2007, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Hosted by Microsoft MEA
http://msevents.microsoft.co.za/
ICTBestPracticesForum2007/index.aspx

The first ICT Best Practices Forum, an initiative of Microsoft, drew over 350 delegates from across West and Central Africa. The forum was attended by representatives from government, the private sector, civil society (including NGOs and academia), the press, and international financial and government institutions, including more than 120 high level government officials, 3 heads of state and more than 40 ministers of government. The delegates met in Burkina Faso to discuss strategies and practical solutions that would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector institutions, through the use of information and communications technologies.

More than 20 speakers were given the opportunity to present projects and case studies implemented by their various organisations. In addition to this, a number of organisations made use of the opportunity to showcase their top projects and offerings at the various exhibition stands. Exhibitors and presenters were therefore given the opportunity to increase awareness of the products and services available and create mindshare among the various organisations represented.