UNESCO GEC Workshop: Advancing trustworthy alliances for education and technology
In the afternoon of the UNESCO Global Education Coalition Annual Meeting, the EEA co-organised one of the thematic sessions focused on building trustworthy alliances. During the highly interactive workshop, the participants explored building blocks for creating knowledge exchange opportunities and partnerships within the EdTech ecosystem. The session was opened by Mr. Borhene Chakroun, emphasising the importance of a shared safe space for cooperation.
A fascinating example of how to leverage the networking and knowledge potential of the GEC, a very concrete example of an alliance in action, was shared by Mr. Martín Benavides (Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning at UNESCO). Drawing on his experience as Peru’s Minister of Education, overseeing pre-primary, primary, secondary, and higher education, Mr. Benavides described how he was compelled to rapidly design a national strategy for distance education in response to the 2020 pandemic.
When the pandemic hit Peru, Mr. Benavides sought help from UNESCO’s GEC capacity. There was an urgent need to set up, within a very short time span, a system that would reach learners in remote places without connectivity. Supported by the alliance, he was able to sign, within one month, up to 1000 government level agreements and on April 6, 2020, the virtual school launched. This admirable effort relied on public-private partnerships boosting connectivity and broadcasting learning content through TV. Mr. Benavides stressed several factors that contributed to the overall success:
Building trust: the alliance leaders needed to be perceived as apolitical, commanding trust and prestige.
Setting a clear objective: students at the centre of the activities.
Focusing on transparency: many of the agreements were signed with private providers, and integrity and ethics had to be upheld.
Good communication: relying on well managed system of data collection, communication including both achievements and lessons learnt
After an introduction by Beth Havinga, the EEA managing director, the participants were divided into several working groups, led by experienced table leads. Our thanks go to: Francesco Corsini (Education Business Director, Lenovo), Leotes Helin (Education Manager, UNICEF Learning Innovation Hub), Zelda Gerard (Legal Officer, CNIL), Dina Ghobashy (Global Director of Education Transformation, Microsoft), Joel Mitchell (Research Portfolio Manager, EdTech Hub), Tom Poole (Head of Education and EdTech Partnerships, Innovation Africa), Carmela Salzano (Senior Project Officer, UNESCO), Suzanna Shamakhyan (Executive Director, Foundation for Armenian Science & Technology) and Hans-Otto Sterling (Open Assessment Technologies).
Additional reflections were offered by Juliette Normén-Smith, who coordinates DTC activities at UNESCO. Looking back on the DTC’s journey, she underscored the importance of people, language, and spaces. She noted that the DTC began as an agile group, where leadership and vision are crucial for success. Agile groups need time to grow, need time to be cultivated, to define objectives, establish workstreams, and deliver tangible results. The group also spent considerable time seeking a common language rooted in shared values, ultimately formulating a cooperation model centred on country engagement. Achieving this required safe spaces- environments open to uncertainty, where not all answers are immediately available, yet there is a willingness to build and sustain a welcoming atmosphere.
Building blocks of trustworthy alliances
Each of the working groups, supported by their experienced table lead, had its unique approach to the task at hand. The idea of thinking of alliance stakeholders in terms of concentric circles seemed to be appealing. While in every group the ‘core’ circle seemed to include educators and learners, additionally often ministries (of education, finance, communication) and other policy makers were included. Usually (interestingly, not always) EdTech developers were also included in the core. The ‘core’ sometimes also included researchers and experts and civil societies. The dividing lines between the core, engaged and informed were, understandably, not always clear cut; some participants suggested that efforts need to be made in expanding the number of actors at the core. Some participants extended their thinking in terms of existing or envisaged capabilities, such as open education platforms, or company open door policies.
For the building blocks, the participants repeatedly stressed the need for shared purpose and common vision, principles, values, fostering relationship with multiple stakeholders, including both private and public sector, good consistent communication, clear governance rules, etc. Ideas on moving from global to local and back to global levels were offered, e.g. replicating international models locally, engaging agents of change and exchanging gained experience back at the international level through shared regularly occurring events and other communication channels.
The GEC day, and the EEA interactive workshop, confirmed the need for more agile and flexible models of alliances while at the same time establishing organisation structures robust enough that would allow for this envisaged flexibility. Building up shared knowledge across stakeholders, locally and globally – by exchanging national level data and applying models of intragovernmental experience seem to be appealing. This need for new alliances was also highlighted in the latest report by the EdTech Strategy Lab “Building Trust in EdTech” (Lindroos Cermakova et al, 2025) and the GEC fifth annual meeting further emphasised this vision (and need).
References:
Lindroos Cermakova, A., Clary, A., Havinga, B., & Cormier, C. (2025). Building Trust in EdTech: Exploring evidence-based approaches. European EdTech Alliance. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/65cf66be42b8b06a33c319d8/t/67d1a7610ab36408657e2ba5/1741793128080/Building+Trust+in+EdTech_Edtech+strategy+lab+report+2024.pdf
Normén-Smith, J., van Cappelle, F., Atins, E., & Ghobashy, D. (eds) (2024). Six pillars for the digital transformation of education: a common framework. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000391299