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The Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be hosting the 5th Global University Summit in Chicago from April 29 to May 1, 2012. Held in parallel with the G8 Summit, the Global University Summit brings together leadership of major research universities and industry from across the world to deliberate upon critical issues facing higher education globally in the 21st Century. The theme for 2012 is "Developing Talent to Drive Innovation in a Global Society."

Our world today is more interconnected than it has ever been. We are witnessing unparalleled levels of collaboration among institutions of higher education across national boundaries. While technology and economic development have made it easier for unprecedented numbers of people to access education, we often grapple with quality education issues and how to best harness our creative energies and craft the innovations needed to respond to the challenges of the 21st Century. The Summit will explore the role of higher education in addressing complex societal issues, in enabling regions and nations to enhance their competitiveness through innovation and discovery, and in the development of people and societies for a thriving world. The role of collaboration between and among universities and the private sector in addressing these themes will also be explored.

Expected outcomes include:

• Identify issues and recommendations to advance to the larger G8 Summit.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships among higher education institutions around the world. Such partnerships can enhance international understanding, accelerate research and discovery, eliminate barriers that impede collaboration, and improve access to educational opportunity.
• Connect with industry leaders to discuss the relationship between research, discovery, and practical application.
• Break down barriers that impede access to world class higher education to citizens across the globe.

We exist in a global knowledge society – truth, discovery, and understanding do not stop at the boundaries of an institution or a country. This Summit provides an opportunity for higher education leaders to contemplate and act upon our role in an open society.

As the chair of the CIC Senior International Officers group (Gilles Bousquet, Dean and Vice Provost, University of Wisconsin-Madison) has said, “We  are  discovering  the  depth   of the challenges around talent development, along with a disconnect between universities and the companies, organizations, and public agencies under pressure to recruit top-notch people. Closing the gap requires new kinds of bridges to link these divergent cultures. We must build sophisticated ways to promote a dynamic collaboration among those who urgently need talent and the institutions that educate our best and brightest minds. Constructing such bridges will require some work to identify common language and mutual understandings."

For more on the 5th Global University Summit this spring, please visit the .