The '2010 International Information Package Workshop', hosted by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) from Japan, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) from the UK and the Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education (HEEC) from China, was convened on Tuesday 2 March, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The workshop was held to provide an opportunity to discuss and share ideas and experiences on 'the concept of mutual understanding' that is essential for promoting effective international cooperation in the area of quality assurance for higher education, and 'information sharing' for enhancing mutual understanding. In addition to the three organizers, the Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) and The Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) from Thailand supported this event. As the workshop was held as a pre-conference workshop of the APQN 2010 Conference and AGM, 77 persons participated from 19 countries/regions and 3 international organizations among the quality assurance organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Workshop programs comprised three parts: a keynote speech from UNESCO, presentations of NIAD-UE, HEEC, QAA and APQN, and discussion. Each presentation included specific examples, e.g. the 'Information Package' produced by NIAD-UE, meaning the participants could hold active discussions based on the themes.

The workshop was acclaimed by the participants, especially the APQN President, and APQN Members proactively organize such international events to take the initiative in dealing with international quality assurance issues.

At the Plenary Session of the APQN Conference after the workshop, NIAD-UE presented reports concerning the accomplishments of this workshop to APQN members and officials from multilateral higher education institutions.

As this workshop has potential, enhanced promotion of international information sharing will be expected as part of efforts to improve the mutual understanding of quality assurance for higher education. NIAD-UE will continue to engage in mutual understanding initiatives concerning quality assurance in Japanese higher education to enhance the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral international cooperation.

Workshop Program

Opening Remarks	Shin-ichi Hirano (President of NIAD-UE, Japan) Anthony McClaran (Chief Executive of QAA, UK) [Video Message] Ji Ping (Director of HEEC, China)
Keynote Speech	Internationalizing Quality Assurance: the importance of information sharing Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić (Chief, Section for Reform, Innovation and Quality Assurance, Division of Higher Education, UNESCO)
Plenary Session 1	Chair: Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić (Chief, Section for Reform, Innovation and Quality Assurance, Division of Higher Education, UNESCO) Presentation 1: Case of Japan - Enhancement of Mutual Understanding and Information Provision in Higher Education -Japanese Efforts- Tsutomu Kimura (Specially Appointed Professor of NIAD-UE, Advisor to the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of MEXT, President of JABEE, Japan) Presentation 2: Case of China - Introduction to Evaluation in Higher Education in China Ji Ping (Director of HEEC, China) Discussion
Plenary Session 2	Chair: Yayoi Tanaka (Associate Professor, Department of Research for University Evaluation, NIAD-UE, Japan) Presentation 3: Case of UK - Quality and Standards in UK higher education: meeting the challenges Carolyn Campbell (Head of International Affairs, QAA, UK) Presentation 4: Experiences of the Asia-Pacific Region - Capacity Building for Quality Assurance: Lesson Learned Concepcion V. Pijano (APQN President) Discussion
Overview of the Workshop and Closing	Akihiko Kawaguchi (Vice-President of NIAD-UE, Japan)

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