Dubai – United Arab Emirates:The Asian Association of Open Universities and University of the Philippines Open University are founding members of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University’s “Benchmarking Framework and Data Set for Online, Open, Smart, and Technology-enhanced Higher Education”.

During the opening ceremony of Innovation Arabia 12, a pioneering event dedicated to innovation in the Arab World held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center last 25 to 27 February 2019, HBMSU announced its pioneering “Benchmarking Framework”. HBMSU, with encouragement from the UAE Government and its quality assurance agency, are establishing an international consortium of experienced and interested stakeholders in ICT-driven higher education to develop and operate a Smart Learning Benchmarking Data Set. The consortium would include universities, policy makers, accreditation agencies, and ranking organizations.

The Benchmarking Framework will establish and promote a common understanding and criteria for quality in technology-enhanced higher education and facilitate benchmarking and sharing of best practices. In addition, the Benchmarking Framework will provide distinctive lifelong learning opportunities and experiences to enable students to improve their skills and competencies, adapt to rapid global changes in the world and impact the society and economy of their respective countries.

Other confirmed founding members of ‘The Benchmarking Framework’ are: Association of Arab Universities, Uninettuno University, Italy, The European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), Asia e University, The Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ANQAHE), Commonwealth of Learning, Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai.