IDEA Zurich Closed-Door Expert Roundtable 2019: Laying the Foundation for Trustworthy Education Standards

Zurich, Switzerland, August 20, 2019 - Amid the crisis of trust and transformation challenges facing global digital education, the International Digital Education Alliance (IDEA) successfully hosted its first closed-door expert roundtable in Zurich, Switzerland. The meeting brought together education policymakers, certification system experts, and academic representatives from various European countries to discuss the rebuilding of trust mechanisms and innovation in governance systems in the education field.

During two days of intensive discussions, the experts engaged in in-depth explorations of three core issues: first, they analyzed the root causes of the structural trust deficit in global digital education and proposed a multi-stakeholder approach to rebuilding trust; second, they compared and analyzed the adaptation challenges and opportunities for educational assessment standards in European countries in the digital age; finally, they conducted preliminary discussions and refinements on IDEA's dual certification system model (structural trustworthiness + outcome trustworthiness) currently under development.

Dr. Mark Schmidt, advisor to the Swiss Federal Department of Education, stated during the meeting: "Educational trust in the digital age cannot rely solely on traditional certification models. We need to rethink the structural foundations and assessment dimensions of trust. The dual certification framework proposed by IDEA may become an important reference for future global education trust systems."

The outcomes of this closed-door meeting have become the theoretical foundation for IDEA's subsequent certification architecture and governance system design, hailed by industry experts as "the opening chapter of the educational trust structure in the digital age." At the closing of the meeting, IDEA Executive Chair Ms. Anna Beck announced that the alliance would gradually build and promote new global education trust standards over the next three years based on the consensus reached at the meeting.