The Regional Center for Information and Communication Technology
(RCICT) is based in the Kingdom of Bahrain under the auspsies of UNESCO, is an accredited Category II Center, which works towards fulfilling UNESCO's efforts in achieving its strategic objectives and building knowledge societies.
RCICT's Vision
To lead through innovation and sustainability, fostering distinguished and creative competencies in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Through its various programs, initiatives and activities, RCICT contributed to raising the human development indicators in the Arab region, particularly the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Yemen, by harnessing information and communication technology in the fields of capacity-building and knowledge exchange, experience and good practices. RCICT works on a continuous basis with the Ministry of Education and a number of national, regional and international institutions in the field of information and communication technology to achieve sustainable development and making maximum use of information and communication technology in the training, teaching, learning and evaluation processes. The support of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Centre has contributed to the development of its infrastructure and human resources. RCICT has the latest technology and advanced equipment to implement its projects, initiatives and activities. The number of beneficiaries of the training services provided by RCICT at the national and regional levels has reached approximately 15,000 since its opening.
RCICT's Message
To provide a safe and sustainable digital environment for all in the field of ICT by strengthening local and regional partnerships in order to build supportive and distinguished platforms for labor market skills towards sustainable learning.
RCICT's Objectives
The objectives of the Regional Centre in the new agreement 2019 are a qualitative extension of its work from the successful establishment phase to the stage of development and expansion in line with the latest ICT developments in the region, as follows:
First Objective
Enhance education systems using ICTs to promote quality and inclusive lifelong learning for all, including education sector diagnosis; a transformation of TVET through regional and national strategy/policy development and synergies of skills for life and work;
Second Objective
Coordinate and sustain multi-stakeholder partnership engagement through a regional partners platform to allow for the exchange of developing trends in areas such as AI, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Coding, knowledge and experiences on ICT for education;.
Third Objective
Empower learners to be competent, creative and responsible Global Citizens, promoting transformative and active learning pedagogies that encourage core skills development, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, producing Global Citizenship and electronic platforms; and support existing networks to advance the GCE agenda in the Arab States region (UNESCO 2016).
Forth Objective
Support Member States in the Implementation and monitoring of SDG 4 by developing ICTs in education policies and relevant standards, based on the Qingdao Declaration and the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), and by promoting the recently updated ICT – CF; and
Fifth Objective
Improve recognition of, and access to equitable and quality assured higher education provision, through a diversity of online, distance, open education and blended learning delivery models and short skills-based courses such as Massive On-line Open Courses (MOOCs) and OERs (UNESCO, 39 C/5).
Five main areas of work have been identified, derived from the Center’s strategic objectives, as follows:
Sustainable Partnerships
Building and strengthening long-term partnerships to exchange relevant and emerging knowledge and experiences in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) through the use of RCICT platforms, while supporting advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and distributed databases (blockchain) for educational purposes.
Quality of Learning, Research and Development
Elevating education systems by employing information and communication technology (ICT) to achieve sustainable quality learning, supporting technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in collaboration with local and strategic partners in the region. Additionally, contributing to the development of regional and national policies and strategies that promote quality and sustainability in education to foster a culture of creativity and lifelong learning.
Global Citizenship
Contribute to the development of higher-order thinking skills by focusing on the production and dissemination of training and educational resources, utilizing digital platforms that support Education for Global Citizenship (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and establishing national and regional partnerships to advance the GCED agenda in the Arab region.
Sustainability of Learning
Support the exchange of experiences with Member States in the follow-up and implementation of the achievement of SDG 4 through the use of ICTs, the Qingdao Declaration and the Global Alliance for Learning Monitoring (GAML), disseminate knowledge in support of the updated version of UNESCO's ICT-CFT Framework for Teacher Competency Development and integrate technology in ISTE education to develop appropriate education policies and standards.
Cooperation with Higher Education
Strengthen cooperation with higher education institutions to ensure equitable and quality access to higher education in various skills-based areas such as Mass Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Open Educational Resources, and E-Learning Methods