Educational Forum of the Greater Eurasian Partnership | 2023Participate

The Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) integrates some of the most populated countries in the world — members of the EAEU, BRICS, SCO, ASEAN and countries in Africa, Middle East and Latin America.  All together, these states represent the World Majority, accounting for more than 85% of the global population. The trend of a comprehensive integration of the World Majority has been intensifying, as proven by the recent geographic expansion of BRICS. 

Since 2000, certain GEP participants have almost doubled their output of scientific publications, while BRICS overtook the EU and the US in total number of articles in Scopus-indexed journals. With science and education as drivers behind intensive economic growth, enhanced cooperation in these spheres may drastically improve the living standards within the GEP. At the same time, a substantial room exists for further improvement in the quality and scope of humanitarian cooperation within Greater Eurasia, including academic partnerships, multilateral mega-science and R&D projects.

How can humanitarian cooperation be intensified within GEP economies in order to build effective models that would both be beneficial for all and meet national interests? How can integration processes contribute to enhancing the human capital potential of GEP participants? How can the positive effects be maximized from cooperation efforts in education and science on the growth of GEP economies? How can academic cooperation contribute to building knowledge economies within Greater Eurasia? What can be done to enhance the self-sustainability of science and education in Greater Eurasia?

The idea of creating a common Greater Eurasian intellectual space appeared back in 1980s and took shape with the establishment of the Eurasian University Association in 1992. To date, the concept of Greater Eurasia has significantly evolved, encompassing all countries of the World Majority. Hence, the scope of a common intellectual space has scaled up to truly global levels, and so have resulting cooperation opportunities. 

A common Greater Eurasian intellectual space would broaden the horizon to a major boost for each economy of the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP). Free flow of students and academics, network universities and associations, joint research projects, educational and scientific platforms are only a part of the advantages to build a common space. Uniting educational and scientific potentials of GEP economies can create benefits that would go far beyond humanitarian aspects and significantly contribute to the development of national and global economies. Despite the wide resource base and intellectual potential of GEP economies, the level of cooperation remains limited and not yet inclusive for all countries of the World Majority.

What international institutions can be enhanced or created in Greater Eurasia to encourage the development of education, science and technology in the interest of the World Majority? How can GEP states build effective academic exchange programmes?  How can cooperation of academic institutions be improved within the GEP?

The increasing relevance and popularity of IT knowledge and skills is no longer a novelty. Digital technologies are used throughout various disciplines, from engineering and medicine to business and finance. IT have already revolutionized entire spheres. For example, machine learning is now an essential part of marketing. According to the consulting company UnivDatos, the global market for digital transformation is expected to grow at 16.1% annually and reach a volume of 3.7 trillion US dollars by 2026. As a consequence, IT knowledge and skills are in demand like they have never been before. The role of universities is crucial: they should serve both as effective training centres, providing future workforce with adequate IT training and idea hubs developing new digital solutions and technologies. Importantly, universities should keep up with the times, develop digital skills and adjust all of its academic programmes, IT and non-IT alike, to the needs of the digital future. This task can be quite difficult, as sometimes, there is no clear vision on how to integrate IT features into traditional programmes and what areas of IT knowledge can contribute to a particular discipline. Consequently, current markets of higher education can be partially inconsistent in regards to the demands of a modern economy.

How can traditional academic programmes be adapted to the needs of IT transformation? How can cooperation between universities and IT firms be enhanced? How can we identify IT knowledge needed in other academic disciplines? What traditional fields of study have the greatest demand for IT solutions and technologies? Are there any limits in embracing IT?