EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2021 Reportfrom French & Japanese perspectives
John Augeri 1) ,2), Shoji Kajita 3)1) Ile-de-France Digital University
2) ACCMS, Kyoto University3) IIMC/ACCMS, Kyoto University
Abstract
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference is a key yearly event for the IT/ICT matters in Higher
Education. The 2021 edition, to be held on late October, will benefit of a joint coverage frommembers of the Japanese and French EDUCAUSE Delegations. This session consists of a report ofthis coverage, highlighting the key trends and stakes to be discussed during the EDUCAUSE
Annual Conference 2021.

1sessions,Introduction

anddiscusses

middleandlong-term

perspectives through forward looking workshops. TheThe EDUCAUSE Annual Conference represents aconference also marks the announcement of thekey moment for any practitioner, stakeholder ortraditional EDUCAUSE Top-10 IT issues [2], that lists

researcher in Higher Education involved in IT and ICT

key challenges and matter for the upcoming year.

stakes. The 2021 edition [1] obviously has a special
meaning, being held after almost two years of a

2.2 Japanese and French EDUCAUSE Delegations
The audience of the EDUCAUSE Annualpandemic

theConference, historically centered on North America,universities by dropping them into a sudden andshowed a significant enlargement during the last

genuine paradigm shift. This presentation will provide adecade. Formal delegations have been progressively

report of this EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2021

constituted by some countries, among which thejust few weeks after its scheduling on late October,

French and the Japanese ones appear to be some of theoutlining and discussing its key trends and perspectives,

biggest and the most active ones.

that

unprecedentedly

challengedand focusing on the lessons learned from the pandemic

The Japanese delegation, held by AXIES, holds aregarding the middle and long-term forecasts of thecommunity event during the conference [3] that allows

Teaching and Learning practices and the academic IT.

its members to have exchanges with EDUCAUSE

2 Conference and Delegations key facts
and figures
2.1 Conference contents
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, is known to
be one of the most important yearly community event
related to IT and ICT in Higher Education. Counting
more than 7.000 practitioners, stakeholders andresearchers, it proposes during three days more than
300 plenary sessions, breakout sessions, community
group meetings and posters, as well as an exhibit hallgathering key actors and startups of the IT industry.
These moments and contents cover current stakes
through surveys, experiences and feedbacks focused40

stakeholders,andorganizations’

keywithothermembers.

delegations’ andSeveralfruitful

Japanese/foreign collaborations have been initiatedthrough this event.
This French delegation, on its side, ensures since2013 a coverage of the conference whose outcomes area public presentation given to the French Higher
Education community, and a yearly written report,
published in French and English [4], and that benefitsof an international diffusion.
Alongside the connection they constantly maintainwith EDUCAUSE board on the behalf of theirrespective

countries,theJapaneseandFrenchDelegations have settled since 2014 formal and regular

Shoji Kajita is Professor at Kyoto University, andcollaborations and cooperations between themselves,belongs to the IT Planning Office of the Institute forthat produced tangible outcomes. Among these

Information Management and Communication (IIMC)

outcomes, the joint coordination of the Japanese andFrench translations of the EDUCAUSE Learning
Space Rating System [5], research projects, and joint
communications

duringtheEDUCAUSEandEDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Conferences.

and the Academic Center for Computing and MediaStudies (ACCMS). He’s a core member of the Japanese
EDUCAUSE Delegation, regular speaker at theEDUCAUSE and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
Conferences, and member of the EDUCAUSE Horizon
Report Experts panel since 2021. He’s also member of3 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2021
joint coverage

the board of Apereo.
John Augeri is Program Director and Researcher at

The cooperations we mentioned led two keyIle-de-France Digital University, and currently staying

members of the Japanese and French EDUCAUSE

at the Academic Center for Computing and Media

Delegations to schedule a joint coverage of the 2021
conference, that will be held on late October in a
hybrid way, considering the pandemic still on-going.
The session proposed for the AXIES Conference
2021 consists of a report of this joint coverage, thatwill present the traditional EDUCAUSE Top-10 IT
issues for 2022, alongside outcomes of key community
groups meetings and significant sessions. It will also
discussion key trends detected from the industry
through the analysis of the Exhibit Hall activity. This
report will especially address the post-COVID

Studies (ACCMS) ot Kyoto University as visiting
researcher.

He’s

co-organizeroftheFrench

EDUCAUSE Delegation, Editor in chief of the French
Delegation EDUCAUSE Annual Report, 12 times
speaker at the EDUCAUSE and EDUCAUSE Learning
Initiative Conferences, and was member of theEDUCAUSE Horizon Report Experts from 2018 to2020. He published the French and the Japanesetranslations of the EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating
System.

perspectives of the academic IT and of the Teachingand Learning practices, this latter topic also being
enlightenedbyanon-going

French/Japanesecomparative study [6]. These different topics will beaddressed through complementary and articulated
Western and Japanese angles.
The report proposed through this AXIES Conference
session will precede the publication of a new edition of
an English language written full report, that will occur
early 2022.

4 Speakers profiles
The joint coverage of the conference, alongside tothis session, will be led by two main speakers, both ofthem being widely involved in EDUCAUSE relatedactivities.

41

References[1] EDUCAUSE Annual Conference website:
https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference(last access: Oct 1st 2021)[2] EDUCAUSE Top-10 IT Issues website:
https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publicati
ons/research/top-10-it-issues-technologies-and-tre
nds/2021 (last access: Oct 1st 2021)[3] AXIES@EDUCAUSE website:
https://axies.jp/educause/educause_top/ (lastaccess: Oct 1st 2021)[4] Ile-de-France Digital University French
Delegation EDUCAUSE Reports website:
https://unif.fr/educause/Rapports Educause (lastaccess: Oct 1st 2021)[5] EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating System(LSRS) website:
https://www.educause.edu/eli/initiatives/learningspace-rating-system (last access: Oct 1st 2021)[6] Augeri J. & Kajita S. (2021). French / JapaneseComparative Study of the Teaching & Learning
Practices at the COVID era: Inventory andPerspectives. IPSJ/CLE 33(2), 1-7