On December 6-7, 2021, IQAA participated in the DEQAR CONNECT online conference "From Data to Policy - Linking Quality Assurance and Recognition" for Bologna's quality assurance and recognition working structures.
The conference was attended by 182 representatives of the Ministries of Education, quality assurance agencies, ENIC-NARIC and experts on higher education policy from all over the European Higher Education Area.
The event included presentations and panel discussions by experts and stakeholders about the DEQAR project, the integration of DEQAR into recognition workflows, the possibilities of using and combining DEQAR data for policy development at the national and European levels, as well as the prospects for connecting DEQAR digital credentials to the European ecosystems.
Karl Dittrich, President of EQAR, opened the conference with a welcoming speech. The Conference consisted of 4 main sessions. The speakers were Chiara Finocchietti (CIMEA, Co-Chair of the EHEA TPG on Recognition), Janja Možina Brecelj (Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia), Melinda Szabo (Senior Policy Analyst, EQAR), Koen Nomden (Team Leader: Skills and qualifications recognition tools, European Commission, DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), Colin Tück (Director of EQAR) and other representatives of European universities and experts in higher education. Check out the Agenda and Speakers.
After the conference, a closed meeting was held for the project partners, where DEQAR representatives together with the project participants discussed the results and possible plans for the future. All participants noted the usefulness and easy integration of the project; thanked the mentors and representatives of the project for their continuous support throughout the project.
The conference was held in honor of the completion of the Erasmus + DEQAR CONNECT project "Support for the implementation of reforms of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)". The main conclusion of the conference is that DEQAR is a great success. The speakers highly appreciated the results of the project, and stakeholders and experts were convinced of the usefulness and value of the project. It was also noted that the project was crucial for automatic recognition at the real system level and facilitated the work of all stakeholders.
Participation in the conference and the project had a great positive effect for the development of our and other agencies and the unification of the working structures of the European Higher Education Area, for which IQAA expresses its sincere gratitude to the organizers of the conference and the DEQAR CONNECT project.
Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan 
Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic 
