2nd International Congress on Education and Informatics

In accordance with resolution 1.18 of the 27th Session of the General Conference (October-November 1993) the 2nd International Congress on Education and Informatics was organized and held by the UNESCO in cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation. The policy in the area of education and new technologies was a key topic of the Congress.

In the letter about the 2nd Congress, disseminated by the UNESCO head-quarter in January 1996, the UNESCO General Director F. Mayor pointed out that considerable progress achieved in the last few years in information and communication technologies resulted in a quick change of computer hardware and software generations and their merging, in an innovator manner, with other technologies. As a result, unprecedented combinations of information facilities have emerged, which have led to the formation of “information community”.

More than 1200 representatives of governments, science and business from many countries, specialized UN institutions, government and non-government international organizations took part in the Congress. Also, UNESCO has invited outstanding scientists, experts in education and informatics, as chiefs of commission. During the congress, the following basic themes were discussed: trends and experiences in the introduction and application of ICTs in education systems; latest developments in ICTs in education; cooperation for the use ICTs in education. The commission meetings cover the following topics: policy, technologies, teachers, students, social, economic, and cultural aspects as well as other through themes.

The Russian Organizing Committee, in accord with the UNESCO Secretariat, entrusted analysis, selection, and preparation of the Congress materials for publication to the International Center of Systems Analysis of Higher Education and Science Problems (the UNESCO associated center), the head organization on the Russian side, which provided preparation and work of the Moscow Congress. The result of the Congress work will be the volumes of the Congress proceedings prepared in the three official Congress languages – English, French, and Russian.

During the Congress, a great many documents, reports, communications, abstracts, and other materials have been worked out, which  are of prime importance for the world community. It was recognized necessary to issue these materials as a series of the Congress Proceedings.

Success of the Moscow Congress helped to reach the agreement between the UNESCO and Russia on joint work in organization and development of two important institutions – the World Technological University and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education.

Publication year: 1996

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