Coordinated by the Korea National Open University (KNOU), the Network will facilitate collaboration between high-level, internationally recognized researchers and faculty of the institutions members of the Network, as well as other institutions in other regions of the world.

Founding members (Korea National Open University, the Open University of Malaysia –OUM-, Hanoi Open University –HOU- and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding under the auspices of UNESCO –APCEIU-) met in Seoul on 18-19 January 2017 at a conference held at KNOU to discuss the potential of distance and online higher education to achieve the SDGs, in particular SDG 4, and to plan future work of the Network.

In addition to executives from the four member institutions of the Network, Dr Oi-Sook Kim, acting President, KNOU, Dr Byung-Gi Moon, Dean, KNOU, Dr Mansor Fadzil, President, OUM, Dr Truong Tien Tung, President, HOU, Dr Utak Chung, Director, APCEIU, and members of their teams, the conference also benefited from the presence of Dr Young-gon Kim, Director General, Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea and Dr Kwangho Kim, Secretary General, Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Mr David Atchoarena, Director of UNESCO Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, made the keynote speech at the event.

The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme promotes international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work.