The great educational gaps of innovation, skills and digital will star in the 4th edition of enlightED , which returns in hybrid format on October 19, 20 and 21. More than 11,000 people from 20 countries have signed up for the most global edition of the event, with 147 top-notch speakers connecting from 10 countries.

Promoted by Fundación Telefónica, IE University and South Summit , since its creation in 2018 it has gathered 470,000 unique viewers from 46 countries and 300 international speakers , consolidating itself as a world benchmark in the field of educational innovation. In its 4th edition, it will include 47 round tables and discussions, as well as 25 participatory workshops, which will You can continue in Spanish, Portuguese and English, with international experts who will participate from Madrid, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, London, Montevideo, Mexico City, Quito, Santiago de Chile, Bogotá or San Francisco.

Hybrid program with top-level experts

With an articulated program over three days and interspersing lectures and face-to-face workshops with round tables and virtual conversations, enlightED will bring together 147 top-level world experts, among which the following stand out:

• Vinton Cerf , considered the father of the internet;
• Daniel Goleman, psychologist, journalist and author of the best – seller Emotional Intelligence ;
• Howard Gardner, psychologist, researcher and professor at Harvard University, known in the scientific field for his theory of multiple intelligences;
• Kiran Bir Sethi, Founder of Design for Change and The Riverside School in India and a finalist for the Global Teacher Prize 2019;
• Michelle Weise, author of Long Life Learning and one of the members of the Thinkers50 list of 2021;
• the tennis player Rafael Nadal;
• José María Álvarez – Pallete, president of Telefónica;
• Hadi Partovi , founder of Code.org;
• l li-Pekka Heinonen , former Minister of Education of Finland and current Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization;
• Wendy Kopp , founder of Tech for All;
• Linda Liukas , founder of Rails Girls, a worldwide movement of girl programming workshops, among others.

Along with them will be representatives of the main educational institutions in the world such as María Brown , Minister of Education of Ecuador; Milton Ribeiro , Brazil’s Minister of Education; and Pilar Alegría , Minister of Education of Spain; accompanied by the presidents of the promoting organizations; Santiago Iñiguez , president of IE University; and María Benjumea, founder and CEO of South Summit.

Everyone will reflect on three of the great gaps that have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic: the challenge of narrowing the innovation gap to transform education systems; the challenge of solving the lack of skills in relation to new social needs; and thirdly, how to address the lack of digital skills to regain connection with young people and promote positive change.

“In the fourth uninterrupted edition of Enlighted, one of the topics of analysis is the skills gap, evidenced by the mismatch between the supply of uncovered employment and the increase in unemployment. Three factors that contribute to this gap are the digitization of the economy, the automation of many tasks and the increase in teleworking and remote activity. Several of the panels during the conference will offer international best practices and creative solutions to overcome this challenge “, commented Santiago Íñiguez de Onzoño, president of IE University.

The enlightED Awards 2021 recognize entrepreneurship and educational innovation

In its 4th edition, the enlightED Awards continue to grow and reinforce its commitment to innovation and educational entrepreneurship, establishing itself as one of the most important educational innovation awards in the world. The awards give their participants the opportunity to share, with the rest of the educational community, the latest digital education and innovation projects in response to the situation caused by COVID-19.

Carmen Morenés, general director of Fundación Telefónica, expressed the importance and urgency of reducing the digital divide through the development of digital skills in all educational stages: “among teachers, to accelerate teaching and learning, among the youngest to improve employability, and above all to make sure that technology becomes a force for positive change that allows us to achieve meaningful social relationships ”.

The finalist projects have already been announced, from among more than 700 applications from more than 15 different countries and as a novelty, in this edition, the categories of best startups in education, innovation and edTech, are added awards for the best practices of educational innovation in corporate training, higher education and primary and secondary education .

The winners, selected by an evaluation committee made up of professionals with experience in the fields and themes of each of the four categories, will be announced on October 21, during the last day of enlightED Hybrid Edition 2021.

“We must together think about how to take advantage of innovation to improve teaching and learning processes. We live in an essential moment to introduce the technology and solutions that startups provide to problems that today demand urgent measures ”, affirmed María Benjumea, founder of South Summit.