University presidents, professionals, intellectuals, and international institutions called for promoting the digitalization of higher education at the recently ended 2023 Annual International Forum on Higher Education. In the world of unprecedented technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, cloud computing, 5G, and the Internet of Things, we need to find 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.
Vice Minister of Education Wu Yan emphasised the necessity of education digitization in promoting education equality and acclimating to the new era 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 massive open online course (MOOC) construction and online education with the world, Wu quoted. Fudan University, in collaboration with Alibaba and China Telecom, has built CFFF, the biggest 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 quoted.
The digital transformation journey is not without difficulties, Ashraf M. El Shihy, President of Badr University in Cairo, stated at the meeting. 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". Deepening international exchanges and associations among higher education and integrating global innovation resources will help solve major scientific problems and tackle common challenges of mankind, he added.
