A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating in today’s world. Driven by innovation and technological development, digital transformation is reshaping society, the labor market and the future of work. Education has become an important player in this process. The growth of connectivity, the widespread use of devices and digital applications, as well as the growing demand for digital skills are all pushing forward digital transformation in education.

At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought huge challenges to global education. Since 2020, some 147 million students have been deprived of more than half of their face-to-face instruction, and more than 90 percent of children have been facing learning difficulties in the whole world. In 2021, 244 million children and young people were out of school. The pandemic has triggered an unprecedented level of urgency for mass online learning, accelerating the process of digital transformation in education.

The just-concluded UN Transforming Education Summit identified quality digital learning as one of the five priority areas for action. Most participating countries included digital learning as a key content in their National Statements of Commitment. China stated in the National Statement that we will further implement the National Strategic Action for Education Digitalization, enrich the supply of digital educational resources, build an extensive and open learning environment, and expedite resources sharing among learning platforms of different types and at different levels, advance the integration of new technology and education and learning, to accelerate the digital transformation of education.

In this context, World Digital Education Conference will be held in Beijing, China on 13-14 February 2023, co-hosted by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO.