Leveraging International Cooperation in Open Education to Sustain Economic Growth and Human Development

Zeynep Varoglu is a Programme Specialist in the Digital Innovation and Transformation Section of the Communications and Information Sector at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Ms. Varoglu is responsible for the implementation of the UNESCO OER Recommendation and related OER Dynamic Coalition and the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (ICT CFT) as well as initiatives in open, distance, flexible and online education. Ms Varoglu was Co-Responsible Officer for the publication ‘Learning for All: Guidelines for the Inclusion of Learners with Disabilities in Open and Distance Learning’ and the UNESCO Project Officer for the development of the UNESCO/COL Guidelines for Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education.

Ms Varoglu holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Toronto and a Master of Education (M.Ed) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (O.I.S.E.), University of Toronto

Elisa Adams is the project coordinator of the Digital Initiative for African Centres of Excellence (DIGI-FACE). The project consortium consists of the University of Applied Sciences Kehl in Germany, Nelson Mandela University in Qeberha, South Africa, and Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany.
DIGI-FACE supports DAAD-funded African Excellence Centres in research, learning and teaching by providing training in the development of e-learning activities, offering cross-disciplinary e-learning modules and holding online events.
These modules are developed as Open Educational Resources (OER) and are offered via the online platform with the integrated Moodle Learning Management System (LMS): www.digiface.org.
The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ms Adams obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and a Master of Arts in Intercultural Communication, focusing on Francophone regions, from Saarland University.

Antoine Dubost is the co-founder of E-Charlemagne, established in 2001. A Telecom Engineer passionate about new technologies and their impact on learning, he founded E-Charlemagne to provide trainers with effective tools tailored to each learner’s needs. With deep expertise in artificial intelligence and digital pedagogy, and as co-creator of the AI-based solution K2R2, Antoine supports training institutions and corporate learning and HR departments in integrating AI solutions. His vision is to make technology a true driver of success for everyone in education, training, and human resources.

As secretary of the board for L'Université Numérique, the French digital university, and AUNEGe, the French OER repository for management & economics, Jacques leads collaborative initiatives in technological R&D, in cooperation with French universities, high-tech companies and academic partners around the globe. The projects involve next-generation networks, open and distance learning as well as evaluation and learning analytics. Jacques also chairs, together with the ICDE Secretary General, the francophone working group for the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on OER; this working group includes representatives from UNESCO, national UNESCO commissions, virtual universities or ministries for Higher Education from various francophone countries in West & Central Africa. He represents L'Université Numérique for participation in the UNESCO dynamic coalition for OER. Jacques currently leads open education initiatives in various French-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa.

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