For the third consecutive year, the TICAL Conference will hold a meeting that will bring together young students and researchers who are developing innovative technology-based projects. This time, however, the focus will be on projects that benefit the academic world, in order to publicize their progress and find ways to advance in the innovation process. For each one of the selected works to be presented in TICAL2016, the event organizers will pay an airline ticket (round trip) to the author of it (or to one of them, in case of collective works) to present it at the Conference.
TICAL2016 is searching for interinstitutional collaboration projects to be presented in the Conference
Seeking to promote the cooperation between the higher education institutions in the region, the TICAL community calls the interested to submit, until June 16th, proposals for interinstitutional projects that address the themes of the Conference 2016 (described in the thematic axis) and that could be benefited and empowered by the collaboration between different academic institutions in Latin America. An author of each selected proposal will receive the airfare as an incentive to participate in TICAL2016 and present its project at the conference.
TICAL2016 opens its call for papers
To be held between September 13th and 15th of 2016 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, TICAL2016 - the Conference of the Network of Directors of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Latin American Universities - has now opened its call for submitting papers around the seven thematic axis defined by the Programme Committee of the event. The closing date of the call is dated for June 13th of 2016, at 24:00 GMT. The papers must be submitted as Word documents and in strict alignment to the format established by the TICAL2016 Guide for Authors to the email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . TICAL2016 is organised by RedCLARA in collaboration with InnovaRed.
Latin American rectors "call" ICT to assume its strategic role at the universities
Four rectors from different Latin American universities have “called” the Information and Communication Technologies to lead the internal processes in higher education institutions, at the enclosing session of TICAL2015 Conference, held between July 6 and 8, in Viña del Mar, Chile. The Rectors Board of TICAL2015 was coordinated and moderated by José Palacios, president of the Red Universitaria Nacional, of Chile (REUNA).
(Source: REUNA) In the opinion of the university authorities who were part of the discussion, it is currently unthinkable that decisions taking process in a serious institution is not linked to technical tools. "I call the ICT areas to take an active role in universities and to accompany the strategic tasks, leaving aside its role as mere support tools", said the rector of the Technical University Federico Santa Maria, from Chile, Darcy Fuenzalida.
On the same subject, Patricio Sanhueza, rector of the Universidad de Playa Ancha (UPLA), added that "globalization has the ICTs as its main instrument and now we have to think about how to make these technologies assume this role in our institutions."
Manuel Moreno, Rector of the Virtual University System of the University of Guadajara (Mexico), also focused on the required plan to convert ICTs into “leaders." "Information technology has some outstanding tasks with respect to the modernization of universities and we must find a way to give them that position. Among other things, the technologies allow us to move forward knowledge more than moving people, and that is what is needed".
The rector of the National University of Cuyo, Argentina, Daniel Pizzi, argued that even though ICTs are allowing the advance in many areas, such as international linkage, "what is required is a change of culture and politics so that ICTs assume their strategic role in the universities. "
After the panel, Fuenzalida pointed out that there is no doubt that ICTs should be leading actors in the institutions "because they are transversal and they affect the entire organization. So to take them from a support logic to a strategy , we must change the paradigm, what is a great task".
With the Rectors Board, the fifth edition of TICAL sought to go beyond its mission as a space for the ICT directors, devoted for their exchange of experiences and solutions for the university. The Chilean version of the Conference wanted to take the first step in this institutional recognition, in order to make the ICTs protagonists in future education.
About 300 professionals, including researchers, ICT directors, academics and students of higher education institutions in Latin America were in the "Garden City" to attend the three days of the Conference. TICAL2015 was organized by RedCLARA, REUNA and EDUTIC.
Collaboration, innovation in ICT and a precious exchange of experiences: TICAL2015 is concluded sucessfully
There were only three days, but if we consider the amount of good lectures and presentations, as well as the quality of the programme, TICAL2015, the Conference of ICT directors of the Latin American universities could go on much longer.
