More Than a Conference; A Space to Co-Create
EDvance Summit 2026 is deliberately designed to go beyond passive knowledge transfer. Alongside research presentations and plenary keynotes, a significant part of the programme is dedicated to collaborative, hands-on work — because the problems we are addressing are too complex and too urgent to be solved by listening alone.
Each day features Applied Workshops in which mixed groups of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers work together on concrete design challenges — not simulations, but real problems framed around actual contexts. Participants leave these sessions with drafted frameworks, tested ideas, and new collaborators. The Moderated Synthesis Dialogues after each keynote block push speakers and participants alike to move from evidence to implication: what actually closes gaps, what fails at scale, and who needs to act first.
The integrated Exhibition and Poster Area creates a continuous space for informal exchange across the full three days — where EdTech demonstrators, research posters, and institutional showcases sit side by side, and where the boundaries between sectors become productive rather than obstructive. Whether you come as a researcher, a policymaker, or a practitioner, you will leave with more than new knowledge: you will leave with new connections, tested ideas, and a clearer sense of what is possible.
Registration Fee
The conference fee includes all conference materials, daily lunch and coffee breaks. All participants are warmly invited to the Exhibition Opening Reception on the first evening, where snacks and beverages will be served.
High GDP countries
USD $320 (including VAT)
Low GDP Countries
Please note that the crucial factor for the reduced Low GDP fee is not the country of origin but the country of residence.
The only countries eligible for the low GDP (Gross Domestic Product) reduction are:
- African countries
- Asian countries (with following exceptions: Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong SAR, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Macau SAR, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UAE)
- Latin American countries (exception: Bahamas)
- and the following countries in wider Europe:
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine. Â
Delegates from all other countries need to register as Delegates from high GDP Countries.
USD $85 (including VAT)
Who Should Submit?
EDvance Summit 2026 is an international, cross-sectoral conference with a strong focus on the African context. We welcome contributions from researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and innovators based anywhere in the world — whether your work is set in Africa or draws on international experience that is relevant and transferable to African contexts. We explicitly welcome:
- Academic researchers and doctoral students in education, ICT, engineering, development studies, TVET, and related fields — based in Africa or internationally
- TVET teachers, trainers, and school principals working with digital tools and navigating the realities of digital transformation in vocational and technical education
- TVET authorities, national training agencies, and qualification bodies responsible for curriculum, standards, and system development
- Faculty and teacher educators in higher education working on digital pedagogy, teacher capacity, and instructional design
- Policymakers and institutional leaders from ministries of education, labour, and ICT with evidence-based insights on programmes, reforms, or systemic change
- Practitioners and applied researchers from NGOs, development agencies, and civil society organisations
- International researchers and practitioners with comparative evidence from other regions — particularly where experiences from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, or other Global South contexts offer transferable lessons for African education and training systems
- Representatives of multilateral and intergovernmental organisations working on education, skills, or digital development
- Early career researchers seeking peer-reviewed publication and structured feedback in an international setting
Thematic Scope
Submissions should address one or more of the following thematic areas. Research set in African contexts is central to the conference, but comparative studies, international case studies, and transferable evidence from other Global South regions are equally welcome where they offer relevant insights for African education and training systems.
- Digital access, connectivity, and equity — infrastructure, affordability, and policy
- Financing models and political economy of digital education
- Learner-centred equity — lived barriers, participation, and dropout beyond connectivity
- Pedagogical innovation and technology-enhanced learning in constrained environments
- Artificial intelligence, adaptive learning, and teacher agency
- Curriculum design and localisation — for African and comparable low-resource contexts
- Assessment and evaluation in low-connectivity settings
- Inclusive education — disability, gender, language, and marginalised learners
- TVET, vocational training, and digital skills for employment
- Recognition of prior learning, competency frameworks, and credentialing
- Workforce alignment, employer engagement, and employment outcomes
- Comparative and international perspectives — transferable lessons from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, and other Global South contexts
- Research methodology in digital education studies in the Global South
Topics of Interest
EDvance Summit 2026 accepts four types of contributions:
All accepted submissions will appear in the conference proceedings (digital and print), each assigned a DOI. Authors may submit to more than one category.
Peer Review Process
Scientific Committee
All submissions are reviewed by the EDvance Summit 2026 Scientific Committee, consisting of researchers and senior practitioners from African and European universities and research centres. The committee is responsible for the integrity and quality of the peer-review process.
Review Procedures
- Full Papers and Posters: Double-blind peer review (authors and reviewers are anonymous to each other). Minimum two reviewers per submission.
- Short Papers: Single-blind peer review (reviewers are anonymous; authors are not). Minimum two reviewers per submission.
- Innovation Spotlights: Open review by a sub-committee with focus on evidence quality and conference fit.
Review Outcomes
- Accept — accepted for the programme as submitted
- Accept with minor revisions — accepted subject to correction of specified issues before camera-ready submission
- Major revision required — invited to revise and resubmit for a second review round
- Reject — does not meet the quality threshold or scope of the conference
- Publication in Proceedings
- All accepted contributions will be published in the EDvance Summit 2026 Conference Proceedings (digital and print). Each contribution will be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Authors of accepted Full Papers are additionally eligible for nomination for the Best Paper Award. All poster authors are eligible for the Best Poster Award.