World leaders in education set to gather in Dubai for Going Global conference

The conference, which takes place from the 4-6 March 2013 and is being held in the Middle East for the first time, is part of the British Council's prestigious annual 'Going Global' series.

The conference is presented in the UAE under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research who will open the conference with the UK's Minister of State for Universities and Science, David Willetts.

This year's theme is Global education: knowledge-based economies for 21st century nations and as registration for the conference is open until February 15, this year's conference is on track to be the most popular Going Global event ever. Leaders from over 70 countries will be in attendance, including twelve Ministers or former ministers, 58 Vice Chancellors or Pro-Vice Chancellors, and 263 Directors or Rectors from the world's leading educational foundations and organisations.

As well as global education issues, the conference will offer a chance for a specific look at higher education in MENA, particularly looking at partnerships and the co-creation of knowledge, encouraging enterprise in education and quality assurance in the region.

Going Global will launch five new pieces of major research:

An exploration across nine countries of the cultural skills global employers require, from British Council, Booz Allen Hamilton and IPSOS
A report on the social and economic impact of transnational education on host countries and index of future transnational opportunities by the British Council
A report on how the vision for higher education in the UK will affect future graduates' employability, by the UK's University Alliance;
A study of student's perceptions of barriers to their outward mobility in the UK and USA by the British Council.

The official launch of the Times Higher Education's 2013 global university reputation rankings.

Peter Clack, the British Council's Head of Education, MENA, said: "We are delighted that so many UAE delegates will be joining us at the conference in Dubai. It is testament to the importance placed on higher education in the UAE.

"We are expecting more than 220 delegates from the Middle East and North Africa in total and we look forward to their contribution to the conference. We are sure that the mingling of so many of the region's best higher education minds will provoke many fruitful discussions."