GDN Newsletter December 2019

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Groningen Declaration Network Newsletter December 2019

President's Message Dear colleagues, At the threshold to the second decade of the twenty first century, I would like to share with you my best wishes for the upcoming festive season. I wish you relaxing times with your family, friends and beloved ones. May the new year treat us gently and bring us many good things. One of those good things will be next year’s GDN Annual Meeting. As its third president and first female one, I would like you all to join us in Delhi, India, for our network’s Ninth Annual Meeting - 15 to 17 April 2020. Today’s GDN Newsletter unveils a tip of what will unfold into an astounding meeting over the next few months. I am very pleased to see the ingredients needed to make a great conference lining up: sponsors, keynotes, session proposals and new signatories. I am also very pleased about the logo that was adopted for our Ninth Annual Meeting: Using Innovation to Disrupt: Creating a Sustainable Digital eco-system for Learners. For those unaware of its Indian roots, let me explain. The logo encapsulates the Indian concept of Trimurti: the Sacred Three and its derivatives, such as Mystical Nine, ultimately representing the One and leading into the concept of the Circle of Life: Destroy – Create – Preserve. The logo stylises India’s national flower and bird - lotus flower and peacock - along with the colours of the Indian flag, representing India’s diverse unique entities that merge together for a common goal. The leaves of the lotus flower are symbolic for Birth (Create), Nurture (Sustain) and Destroy (Disrupt). Within it is contained the entire planet, with the focus being India, India’s global outlook and its worldwide networking. Woven into this whole are the shades of green, evoking a greener planet and the need for eco-friendly initiatives which the GDN has been advocating since its start. Let me finish with the Indian Federal Government’s Three I’s Vision as an inspiration for all of us to strive for more Innovation, more Inclusion and more Integration. Best wishes to you and looking very much forward to (re)connecting in India next April! Amee Shroff, President, Groningen Declaration Network

Using Innovation to Disrupt: Creating a Sustainable Digital Ecosystem for Learners

Registrations are open for the Groningen Declaration Network 9th Annual Meeting to be held in Delhi, India 15-17 April 2020. Early bird rates apply until 1 February.

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The meeting under the broad theme Using Innovation to Disrupt: Creating a Sustainable Digital Ecosystem for Learners, will bring together senior higher education professionals and practitioners, innovators, technology experts, employer groups, solution providers, student groups and individuals dedicated to the mobility of learners across the globe. We are pleased to let you know that five keynote speakers have already been confirmed, eleven new signatories at least will be signing the Groningen Declaration in Delhi, and close to forty submissions have been received. All submitters of proposals will be notified about the outcome of the selection process before this year’s Seasonal/Christmas break. First five confirmed keynote speakers - Dr. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General, Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) Sponsored by Amazon Web Services - Gohar Hovhannisyan, Vice-President, European Students’ Union - Professor Emerita Dr. Beverley Oliver, Higher Education Consultant - Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) - Vincent Quah, Regional Head - Education, Research, Healthcare, and Not-For-Profit APAC Public Sector, Amazon Web Service The Association of Indian Universities will announce its keynote speaker as soon as possible who will be listed once details have been received. Sponsors We are very pleased to announce the following first confirmed sponsors:

Premier sponsor: Digitary proudly sponsoring the GDN Annual Dinner again. Platinum sponsor: CollegeSource for the Welcome Reception. Gold sponsor: Parchment for the Thursday luncheon, and we welcome Amazon Web Services as a first time sponsor! Silver sponsors: Vetassess for the Delegate bags Sponsorship Opportunities Abound We would be delighted to discuss tailoring a sponsorship package that meets the needs and interests of your organisation and profile. On available sponsorship opportunities, please contact Janie Barnett GDN Sponsorship Coordinator. For general annual meeting enquiries, contact Karen Hanna, GDN Event Manager.

Introducing the 2020 GDN Conference Venue: Delhi Atithi Devo Bhava, “A Guest equals God”, thus an Indian saying that captures the dynamic of the host-guest relationship. This may begin to explain why Delhi is one of the most enchanting destinations for tourists from all around the world. Thanks to its world-class hotels and the development of its infrastructure, it is also one of the top MICE - Meeting, Incentives, Conferencing, and Exhibitions - destinations.

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GDN 2020 Conference Hotel Venues Institutional limitations on the availability of meeting space during the time of our annual meeting led us to select two top New Delhi hotels for the 2020 annual meeting: The Oberoi New Delhi and the Taj Mahal Mansingh. Both are situated approximately thirty five minutes from the international and domestic airports and are splendidly located in the heart of New Delhi’s government district, close to embassies, the central business district of Connaught Place, the fashionable Khan Market, sprawling Lodhi Gardens, the Delhi Golf Course and Humayun’s Tomb. In short, we hope to welcome you to the Annual Meeting in a breathtaking area that leaves nothing to be desired, except to return ..

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Our Ongoing Quest to Refine the Network’s Formula. Enhancing Benefits, Ensuring Inclusiveness, Furthering Empowerment At its strategy retreat last October in Montreal, Canada, the Board of Directors decided to introduce a new financial year, to run parallel with the annual meetings. This change will take effect from May 2021 onwards, yielding the happy side effect of the current annual fee for the year 2020 covering 16 months instead of 12 months until May 2021. During the same strategy retreat, the Board also agreed to revamp the categories of involvement with an eye to provide more benefits, ensure more inclusiveness and further empowerment to all stakeholders in the network.

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EEAG Letter of Intent Executive Director Herman de Leeuw, signing on 11 September the Letter of Intent of EEAG, the Engineers Europe Advisory Group, an initiative of FEANI - the European Federation of National Engineering Associations. FEANI intends to sign the Groningen Declaration and by doing so, may advocate the GDN aims and vision to some 6 million engineers in the European Higher Education Area, thus adding the voices of a powerful body of globally mobile highly skilled professionals to the cause of the GDN. Read the Letter of Intent here IAU International Conference IAU staged its 2019 IAU International Conference 2019 in Puebla, Mexico, attracting 200+ participants from universities from all over the world. GDN Director Francisco Maldonado Altieri participated in a panel session on "Qualification, recognition and credentials in the digital era" with Judith Eaton, President, CHEA (USA); Andréas Corcoran, Deputy Secretary-General, IAU; Friðrika Harðardóttir, Director IRO, University of Iceland; and Inga Žalėnienė, Rector, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius (Lithuania) as moderator. Francisco presented to the audience the GDN mission, goals, the projects it sparked off around the world and the inspiration it keeps providing for collaboration and innovation around the globe. GDN on LinkedIn GDN is expanding its social media footprint and recently migrated to a new GDN LinkedIn Group . Please follow for updates and share them with your network to further the GDN cause. #GDN GDN on LinkedIn Presenting GDN at AEC Annual Conference in Turin GDN signatory AEC - Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen - staged its 46th Annual Conference in Turin, Italy from 7 to 9 November 2019. GDN Director Jelger de Boer, DUO presented the GDN in a co-presentation with Luca Lantero, Director, CIMEA (Italian NARIC), Head of the BFUG Secretariat and President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Bureau in a session entitled E-Mobility: Successful Mobility and Recognition through Digital Credentials: the Groningen Declaration Network and the DiploME blockchain solution, moderated by AEC Council Member Lucia Di Cecca, International Relations Coordinator at the Licinio Refice Conservator in Frosinone, Italy.

Why Now is the Right Time to Form a GDN-PESC Standards Task Force, by Michael Sessa Standards help make the world go round. From finance and banking to health and transportation, standards are everywhere in our lives. Remember, though, that no single standard answers all our needs, and no industry or sector depends on only one standard. Education and the labour market are no exception to that. Stakeholders in the GDN Ecosystem need multiple, different standards and will continue to need multiple, different standards...

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Other News

Digitalization Maturity Cube Geir Vangen, one of the spiritual fathers of RS3G, DSDP, EMREX, the GDN (and more) introduces the concept of the maturity cube for digitalization, zooming in on the levels of digitalization maturity: an image of the document, for instance, a PDF; structured data; standard-compliant structured data; and comparable data. Digitalization Maturity by Geir Vangen

eIDAS Initiative Roadmap for Digital Credentials The eIDAS Regulation seeks to make electronic transactions in the EU more secure, to increase users’ trust in them and make online services and electronic trade in the EU more effective...

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European Students’ Union Statement about Digitalization Gohar Hovhannisyan, Vice-President of the European Students Union is one of our keynote speakers at the GDN Annual Meeting 2020 in Delhi. She introduces herself and explains the ESU’s interest in digitalization.

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Digitization of Credentials: The Quality of Shorter term Educational Experiences The Council for Higher Education Accreditation/International Quality Group (CHEA/CIQG) has released Digitization of Credentials: The Quality of Shorter-Term Educational Experiences, authored by higher education expert Peter van der Hijden

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Interoperable Data Ecosystems - an International Review to Inform South African Innovation Interoperability, data, and ecosystems: Three concepts that, to date, have not been used together enough internationally, and even less so in South Africa.

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Invitation to participate in Canadian global survey on state of affairs regarding development and acceptance of micro-credentials BCCAT, the British Columbia Council on Admission and Transfer commissioned Duklas Cornerstone Consulting - primary researchers Joanne Duklas and Anna Foshay - to run a survey on current and emerging practices and motivations behind developing and accepting micro-credentials - for more background click here. Please consider taking the survey by December 18, 2019. Publication of the final, peer-reviewed report is anticipated for Fall 2020.

REMINDER - European Commission consultation on draft data model for learning credentials, being part of the New Europass Framework The European Commission developed a draft data model for a learning credential. The model aims to capture the outcomes of any non-formal, informal and formal learning across Europe

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Calendar of Upcoming Events 2019 December 12 ASEM Digital Initiatives KickOff meeting, Berlin, Germany 15 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Online 2020 January 27 - 30 CHEA 2020 Annual Conference and CIQG Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA February 4 News Tank: Think Education & Recherche, workshop in French on verification, recognition and digital credentialing by GDN Signatory Verifdiploma, ICP, Paris, France 13 Erasmus Goes Digital Conference, Luxembourg 19 - 21 EURIE 2020, Istanbul, Turkey March 5 - 6 GUNi International Conference on SDGs, Barcelona, Spain 25 - 27 The Forum on Education Abroad, Kansas City, MO, USA April 5 - 8 AACRAO Annual Meeting 2020, New Orleans, LA, USA 15 - 17 GDN Annual Meeting 2020, Delhi, India 28 - May 1 PESC Spring Data Summit, Washington, D.C., USA May 24 - 29 NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo, St. Louis, MO, USA June 29 -30 Going Global, London, UK September 15 - 18 EAIE Annual Conference & Exhibition, Barcelona, Spain Your event missing? Please let us know and we will gladly add it in next newsletters.

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