The newly founded ASIIN Global University Network of Excellence in Higher Education (AGUNE) was successfully launched with an Online Opening Event on the 25th of January 2024. The event ensued with the welcome address from Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Christian-Andreas Schumann, Vice-President, ASIIN, Board of Directors. Mr Rosenberg, member of the ASIIN Board was also present. The Managing Director of ASIIN, Dr Iring Wasser, elaborated on ASIIN’s vision for AGUNE, how AGUNE fits into the ASIIN set-up and about the expectations associated with this new alliance.

The founding member universities spanning from Mexico to China participated in the event. The universities, in spite of belonging to a wide range of time zones, participated enthusiastically and made presentations regarding the salient features of their universities. Some members were found to be participating even at odd hours of 4:00 am. It was a very good mix of diversity with 43 participants from 11 countries.

The Network is already gaining momentum with a free webinar on the ‘Implications and Challenges of AI in Higher Education’ being planned. Requests for promotion of Summer Schools and Conferences are also pouring in. The member universities have been pro-actively sending in their inputs for the development of the AGUNE - ASIIN website pages and their suggestions for further activities of the Network. Overall, it was a good beginning of an honest endeavour in advancing the quality of global Higher Education.