University presidents, experts, scholars, and international organizations called for promoting the digitalization of higher education at the recently concluded 2023 Annual International Forum on Higher Education.
More than 800 participants from about 30 countries and regions attended the forum and exchanged views on the digitalization and sustainable development of higher education.
In this era of unprecedented technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, cloud computing, 5G, and the Internet of Things, we need to find ourselves in new ways of how innovation and sustainability can go together, said Shahbaz Khan, director and representative of the UNESCO Beijing Office, in a video speech addressing the forum's opening ceremony.
He said that higher education institutions must be reformed and transformed, as was demanded by the Transforming Education Summit last year.
Vice Minister of Education Wu Yan stressed the necessity of education digitization in promoting education equity and adapting to the new round of scientific and technological revolution.
China has built the world's largest national intelligent education platform for higher education and largest online teaching system for higher education and shared China's experience in MOOC construction and online education with the world, Wu said.
Digital technology is an important way to promote education equity and make the high-quality resources of higher education accessible to all, said Du Yubo, president of the China Association of Higher Education.
A total of 174 universities in central and western China have participated in constructing 810 virtual experimental teaching courses, effectively improving the quality of experimental teaching in western universities and promoting education equity.
Fudan University is systematically applying artificial intelligence to discipline development, talent training, and campus building, according to Qiu Xin, Party secretary of the university.
Fudan University, in cooperation with Alibaba and China Telecom, has built CFFF, the largest cloud-based scientific research intelligent computing platform in Chinese universities, and established Shanghai Intelligent Innovation Center to serve the city based on the computing power of this platform, Qiu said.
While calling for promoting digitization in higher education, the participants also expressed concerns about its challenges to higher education.
The digital transformation journey is not without challenges, Ashraf M. El Shihy, President of Badr University in Cairo, said on the forum. He said ethical considerations, data privacy, and cybersecurity demand careful attention. "Addressing these challenges is essential for the responsible and sustainable implementation of digital technologies in higher education."
Participants also called on universities globally to strengthen cooperation and exchanges to tackle challenges facing the world.
High-quality international exchanges and cooperation are the accelerator and booster for promoting the reform and development of universities, improving the quality of personnel training, and promoting high-level scientific research, said Li Yuanyuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, at the forum.
Deepening international exchanges and cooperation in higher education and integrating global innovation resources will help solve major scientific problems and tackle common challenges of mankind, he added.
Themed "The Digital Age and Sustainable Development in Higher Education," the 2023 Annual International Forum on Higher Education was held by the China Association of Higher Education and Xiamen University from Dec. 9 to 10.
