EnlightED Virtual 2020 will bring together 20,000 participants and over 90 international thinkers

The third edition of enlightED, the world conference on education, technology and innovation, will bring together, between October 19-23, 20,000 participants from more than 20 countries around the world to reflect on the challenges that Covid-19 is posing to learning, teaching and work in our societies. The Telefónica Foundation, IE University, the Santillana Foundation and South Summit are once again organizing the enlightED Virtual Edition 2020, the debate on post-Covid Education, with a new virtual, interactive format and even greater international reach.

The program was presented today at a press conference attended by the heads of the four organizing institutions, together with Alejandro Tiana, Secretary of State for Education, who participated virtually in the event.

Tiana expressed Ministry of Education’s support for enlightED, thanking the organizing partners for creating this global education event. “This third edition of enlightED comes at a very opportune moment. Digitalization is a great challenge for the education system and we must all work together to develop these skills in society,” he said.

Carmen Morenés, General Director of the Telefónica Foundation, expressed her conviction about the special relevance of this year’s enlightED: “We must think together about how to take advantage of technology to improve teaching and learning processes, to optimize training in companies, and to introduce the innovation and solutions provided by startups to the problems that today demand urgent measures.”

Diego del Alcazar Benjumea, Vice President of IE University, added: “enlightED has become a successful global reference for debating and rethinking education in the digital age. In this new environment where liquid learning reigns, we promote new frameworks for the sustainable future of education. We are moving toward a much more customized world of training, where technology allows us to gain in modularity. Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are some of the engines of transformation of the global agenda of education. AI applications are driving innovation in education and work by making it more personalized and effective.”

Miguel Barrero, Director of Education at the Santillana Foundation, explained: “enlightED is about mobilizing specific educational experiences. In this edition, given the dimension of the impact of the pandemic on the educational reality, it is more important than ever to hear the voices of those who have acted to seek solutions. Through the Workshop and Best Practices formats we will give them a space for collaboration where they can give visibility to their learning in the context of post-COVID19 education.”

Maria Benjumea, founder of South Summit, highlighted the importance of innovation: “We are living through a key moment for the generation of new opportunities and initiatives that will provide high standards of education in all areas. This pandemic has shown us that we must be prepared to face new challenges in education, which means that more than ever innovation in this area, hand in hand with startups, is essential to generating professional talent in the future.”

Ninety leading thinkers to reinvent education in a digital world

Over the course of five days, enlightED 2020 will bring together more than 90 international experts and thinkers who will reflect on education during the crisis, as well as innovations in corporate learning, the opportunities and risks of K12 education and new models of higher education and challenges for EdTech.

The virtual meeting will be held between 16:00 and 20:30 Spanish time, and can be followed from the enlightED.education website. The event will be streamed, coordinated via the Movistar Studios, with presentations from various countries around the world, workshops from the Wow Room at IE University, and round tables from the auditorium of the Telefónica Foundation, in addition to educational experiences or the enlightED Awards.

Among the speakers scheduled for enlightED Virtual Edition 2020 are Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology and professor at Harvard University; Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, a non-profit organization that provides free online education in 36 languages and which earned him the Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2019; Rose Luckin, a professor at University College London specializing in the use of AI in learning; Hadi Partovi, entrepreneur, investor and CEO of Code.org, a nonprofit organization that provides education in programming around the world; Rebecca Winthrop, co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Think Tank Brookings Institution; Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO; Nassim Nicholas Taleb, essayist, researcher and mathematician, member of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University; Andreas Schleicher, director of Education at the OECD; Denis Mizne, CEO of the Lemann Foundation; or Mona Mourshed, founder and CEO of Generation.org.

They will be joined by representatives of the world's leading educational institutions such as Mariya Gabriele, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth; and Isabel Celáa, Spain's Minister of Education and Vocational Training; accompanied by the presidents of the promoting organizations, José María Álvarez-Pallete, executive president of Telefónica; Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University; María Benjumea, founder and CEO of South Summit; and Ignacio Polanco Moreno, President of the Santillana Foundation.

Best Practices Corner

As in previous editions, enlightED Virtual Edition 2020 will host Best Practices Corner with the aim of disseminating the best practices in digital education implemented as a result of the confinement by the Covid-19. An evaluation committee has selected the best from educational and corporate environments, which will be presented virtually during enlightED Virtual 2020.

enlightED Awards

Once again, the enlightED Awards will be presented with the aim of identifying and promoting the best national and international ideas that are disrupting digital education.

The 12 finalist edtech startups have already been announced from among 458 candidates from 57 countries, competing in the categories of IE University Award for the 'Best Startup in Higher Education', Fundación Telefónica Award for the 'Startup with the best technological solution for learning and training', Fundación Santillana Award for the 'Startup with the greatest social impact in education', and Wayra Award for the 'Startup with the greatest scalability'. In addition, this year, two new categories have been added in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to take into account all the implications it has on the educational environment: 'Startup with the best solution during the COVID' and 'Most innovative teacher COVID'.

The selected initiatives will have international visibility on enlightED and will be eligible for first place in the competition, as well as for first place in the South Summit 2020 Startup Competition.