SHENZHEN, CHINA — Against the backdrop of a world leader for innovation, Southeast Asia took a significant step toward shaping the future of higher education.

At the Global Future Higher Education Summit in Shenzhen in June 2026, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat and the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) announced their partnership to establish the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) Southeast Asia Regional Centre.

The partnership signals a crucial commitment to boost the region’s response to navigating one of the greatest transformations in modern education: Artificial Intelligence (AI). As AI reshapes classrooms, research, and the future of work, the Centre is set to ensure that universities across the region can respond by sharing knowledge, building capacity, and creating solutions that no institution could achieve alone. Planned to be hosted by the SEAMEO Secretariat in Bangkok, the IIOE will serve as a regional platform to foster a more connected higher education ecosystem across Southeast Asia.

A Region on the Move

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-changing regions. Home to nearly 700 million people across eleven countries, the region combines extraordinary cultural diversity with one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies. Over the past two decades, internet connectivity has expanded dramatically, from just 16 percent of the population in 2004 to around 70 percent by 2021, bringing more than 400 million people online, according to UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report 2023.

At the same time, AI is rapidly transforming economies and labour markets. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that nearly 90 percent of employers will adopt AI and advanced digital technologies, while almost two-fifths of today’s workforce skills are expected to change within the next five years.

As such, universities now require a fundamental rethinking of how higher education prepares learners with digital competencies, adaptability, creativity, and the capacity for lifelong learning. Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim noted in her keynote address in Shenzhen that,

“Artificial intelligence continues to place systemic and seemingly inescapable demands on higher education to redefine talent development, pedagogies, and collaborations.”

Despite progress, Southeast Asia’s readiness to harness AI remains uneven. Universities are pioneering AI-enabled learning, digital credentials, and new approaches to teaching and research.

Yet many others continue to face issues on digital infrastructure, faculty capability, AI literacy, governance, and institutional readiness.

Assessments using the Smart Education Readiness Index developed by SEAMEO VOCTECH indicate that many institutions remain at the Learner and Early Adopter stages of digital transformation.

Meanwhile, only one Southeast Asian country currently has a dedicated national policy specifically focused on AI in education. The result is a familiar pattern: universities are addressing similar challenges, but often in isolation.

A Partnership Built on Shared Strengths

By connecting the region to the global IIOE ecosystem and responding to the region’s aspirations, the IIOE Southeast Asia Regional Centre is designed to meet this need. It creates opportunities for universities to exchange expertise, co-develop solutions, undertake collaborative research, and adapt global innovations to local contexts.

Partner agencies refer to each other’s strengths.

UNESCO-ICHEI contributes its international platform, technical expertise, global partnerships, and leadership in digital higher education. SEAMEO brings six decades of regional cooperation, trusted relationships with Ministries of Education across its eleven Member Countries, and an extensive network of regional centres and higher education partners. Together, they have ensured a collaborative, inclusive, and responsive platform to Southeast Asia’s diverse educational landscape.

A Classroom Designed for a Region

Supporting these initiatives will be the Regional Smart Learning and Innovation Classroom, a flagship facility to be housed within the IIOE Southeast Asia Regional Centre to support executive learning, professional development, collaborative course design, research, innovation, policy dialogue, and hybrid knowledge exchange among universities. Equipped to connect participants across borders, the Classroom will enable stakeholders to co-create ideas, test innovations, and share promising practices that can be adapted throughout the region.

Beyond programmes and infrastructure, the Centre seeks to build something equally important: a regional community of higher education institutions, Ministries of Education, SEAMEO Regional Centres, researchers, instructional designers, EdTech innovators, development partners, and industry. As Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim reminded delegates during the launch,

The Journey Begins

During its first year, the Centre aims to engage at least twenty universities across Southeast Asian countries, creating the foundation of a growing network committed to AI-enabled professional development, collaborative research, course co-development, policy dialogue, and international partnership.

In a time when artificial intelligence is transforming education around the world, the establishment of the IIOE Southeast Asia Regional Centre sends a clear message: Southeast Asia’s response will not be built on technology alone, but on partnership, shared purpose, and a steadfast commitment to ensuring that innovation remains human-centred, inclusive, and beneficial for all.