Cape Town hosts the first Times Higher Education summit on African soil

For three days at the end of September, the global conversation about higher education moved to Cape Town. The University of Cape Town hosted the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit from 29 September to 1 October, the first time the event has been held in Africa, according to UCT.

Co-hosted with the University of Bristol at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the summit drew university leaders, academics, researchers, policymakers and students, as well as people from business and civil society.

Universities in the age of AI

The theme was “Knowledge, justice and futures: Universities in the age of intelligence”. Artificial intelligence was a big part of the conversation, but not all of it. UCT said delegates also discussed inequality, environmental pressure and what society now expects from universities.

There was plenty of talk about partnerships, between universities and across borders, and about how institutions can make a real difference to the communities around them.

UCT’s video report focuses on the discussions and partnerships explored at the summit. What Cape Town got was the chance to host the debate rather than watch it from afar, and UCT has published a video record of the event, released on 8 October.