NetDragon Invited to UNESCO-ICHEI Expert Meeting on the Future of Smart Education
2025-12-10 17:02:12
On December 8, the 2025 International Expert Consultation Committee Meeting of the UNESCO International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (China, Shenzhen) (UNESCO-ICHEI) was held at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman of NetDragon, and Chen Changjie, Vice President, were invited to attend. As a member of the International Expert Consultation Committee, Dr. Leung praised the achievements of the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) since its establishment, noting: “The six-year development of IIOE demonstrates that countries of the Global South are fully capable of building their own models of educational digitalization.”
NetDragon Vice Chairman Dr. Simon Leung speaking at the meeting
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format, combining online and in-person participation. Nearly twenty expert committee members from UNESCO, international organizations, domestic and overseas universities, enterprises, and think tanks attended, including: Tang Qian, Chair of the UNESCO-ICHEI International Expert Consultation Committee and former Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO; Jin Li, Director of the Innovation Centre and Vice President of Southern University of Science and Technology; Xia Zehan, Director of UNESCO’s East Asia Regional Office; Zhan Tao, Director of UNESCO’s Institute for Information Technologies in Education; and Wu Zhong, Secretary-General of the South-South Cooperation Finance Center. Participants jointly reviewed the achievements of IIOE over the past six years and engaged in in-depth discussions on its future strategic planning, focusing on innovations in smart and digital education.
Group photo of attending experts
To address the global challenges of higher education digitalization and advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), ICHEI launched the IIOE in 2019. Over six years, IIOE has grown into a global digital education alliance connecting 46 countries, more than 130 universities, 55 international organizations, and 40 industry partners. Its user base expanded from 4,000 in 2020 to over 24,000 in 2025, with a total of 157 micro-credential courses developed and nearly 11,000 participants trained, demonstrating significant global influence alongside strong local adaptability.
During a keynote report at the meeting, Ms. Bi Xiaohan, Deputy Director of the Innovation Centre, highlighted four key challenges facing IIOE in its next phase: 1. Aligning course content more closely with regional needs; 2. Ensuring consistent quality across multilingual courses and establishing a systematic updating mechanism; 3. Completing a data-driven operational feedback loop; 4. Exploring a sustainable development model.
Notably, these challenges align closely with NetDragon’s core capabilities in digital education. As a global leader in AI-powered education, NetDragon operates in over 190 countries and regions, offering end-to-end solutions ranging from AI course production and multilingual adaptation to smart classroom construction. In June 2025, NetDragon signed a strategic cooperation agreement with ICHEI, jointly committing to support the digital transformation of higher education in developing countries.
NetDragon Vice President Chen Changjie attending the meeting
During related closed-door sessions at the meeting, NetDragon and UNESCO-ICHEI conducted in-depth discussions on future collaboration and reached key agreements. Both parties agreed that high-quality digital learning resources and trusted learning outcome certifications are critical to advancing global education equity. Building on this, they will continue to deepen cooperation in areas such as co-development of AI courses, multilingual educational resources, internationally recognized digital credentials, and global teacher training, jointly injecting new momentum into the digitalization of education in the Global South and contributing to a more equitable and high-quality educational future. Dr. Simon Leung emphasized, “NetDragon is committed to being a long-term partner and working with the Innovation Centre to shape the next decade of IIOE.”
Dr. Simon Leung, NetDragon Vice Chairman, with Li Ming, Innovation Centre Founding Director and IIOE Secretary-General, after the meeting