HIT Leads Panel During Int’l Entrepreneurship Week 

International Entrepreneurship Week (GEW 2020) took place last week, hosted by Uzbekistan. The theme of the productive week was "Entrepreneurship Education - From Idea to Implementation".

This is the fourth time that HIT participated in this recurring annual event, although the first time it did so on-line due to the COVID-19 virus. More than 20 seminars were held over the course of the week, in which experts from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, India, Israel, United States, United Kingdom, Germany and other countries participated.

International Entrepreneurship Week arouses great interest from partner organizations, government services, educational institutions and business organizations. Sponsored by the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEW), an international organization headquartered in Washington, DC, USA and co-hosted in 180 countries around the world, education is only one of the four priorities selected by GEN Global for GEW 2020. Other issues addressed included ecosystems, entrepreneurship, politics and economics.

The conference in Uzbekistan this year focused on Education and Entrepreneurship, which is not a coincidence, as the Uzbek government has attached great importance to this issue in recent years. Higher education in this country is being developed according to business models. to this end, in recent years, more than 30 new institutions of higher education were opened with the participation and investment of foreign partners. Private institutions of higher education have also begun to appear on the scene for the first time. Among them is TEAM University, the first private university specializing in entrepreneurship. One of the main goals of this university is to educate entrepreneurs in critical and analytical thinking and to create, promote and implement innovative projects.

Prof. Eduard Yakubov, President of HIT together with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led one of the most significant meetings of the week.  Participants included major Uzbek government ministries – among them, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Innovation.

Prof. Yakubov was invited to lead the academic session. In his opening remarks, he stated that “HIT continues to lead in the field of digital learning in Israel and around the world and is committed to sharing this knowledge globally. We were one of the first institutions which seamlessly transitioned to distance learning at record speed upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and we continue to lead in the field of hybrid learning. Digital education is a great priority at HIT.  Recently, Dr. Moshe Dekalo, a former senior official in the Ministry of Education, was appointed to lead our digital learning operations.”

The session included participants from international organizations, students, teachers, young entrepreneurs and representatives of other entities interested in the development of higher education in Uzbekistan.

Among them:
Ms. Feruza Makhmudova - Uzbekistan Ambassador to Israel
Prof. Muzaffar Djalalov – Rector. NHA University in Tashkent
Prof. Alisher Khasanov – Rector, TEAM University
Prof. Viktoriya Levitskaya –Deputy Rector Student Engagement, TEAM University
Ms. Zuhra Abdurahmonova – IT Park And Ground Zero Accelerator
Prof. Manzura Yuldasheva – Institute of Arts, Tashkent
Prof. Umida Khaydarova – Tashkent State University of Law

The following topics were discussed at the session: the readiness of Uzbek universities to move over to distance learning; challenges which they face in terms of methodology, pedagogy, technology and organization; shared business opportunities among distance learning institutions; implementation of lifetime learning from kindergarten to university, with emphasis on the use of innovative modern technologies and more.
At the conclusion of the meeting, summaries and recommendations were prepared and will be presented to the various government organizations, as well as to the business community.

Posted:30/11/2020