Meeting of Higher Education Networks and Councils of Rectors of Latin America and the Caribbean to be held in November in Asuncion, Paraguay

On November 22 and 23, university networks and rectors’ councils in the region will meet to collectively reflect on the challenges involved in the necessary acceleration of the digital transformation of our universities.

Based on the great potential that the integration of technology in higher education offers to academic processes in general, this integration also poses important challenges, such as the digital divide that exists within and between countries. Thus, this issue becomes transcendental to address, in view of the obstacles it simultaneously offers to guaranteeing equal access to and use of technology, as well as the ethical and privacy issues related to data collection and the use of artificial intelligence that require attention.

After the pandemic and its restrictions, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC) resumes the celebration of the meetings of the councils of rectors and university networks, understanding it as a privileged and consolidated forum for the meeting of authorities and expert voices of the region in higher education.

For this occasion UNESCO IESALC together with the National University of Asuncion (UNA), the Asssociation of Public Universities of Paraguay, and the Latin American and Caribbean Space for Higher Education, organize the celebration of this X Meeting of Higher Education Networks and Councils of Rectors of Latin America and the Caribbean. In this sense, they invite authorities and representatives of national rectors’ councils and associations, as well as university networks in the region to participate.

The X Meeting of Higher Education Networks and Councils of Rectors of Latin America and the Caribbean is part of the dynamics of the path towards CRES+5 and it constitutes its third preparatory meeting, so it is expected that the Higher Education Networks participate to enrich with the contribution of reflections and proposals for the strengthening and development of regional higher education towards 2030.

The meeting will be held at the UNA facilities in the city of Asuncion, Paraguay, on November 22 and 23, 2023.