Keynote Lectures

Brief Bio
Dr. Lluís Vicent is a multifaceted leader in the global university ecosystem, combining his roles as a professor, researcher, entrepreneur, and international strategic consultant. His career is marked by a unique research trajectory that began in pure technology and evolved through its application in education, ultimately focusing on the design of innovative university models and higher education systems. He has served as Rector of three universities and as the regional director of a prominent international network of universities. Dr. Vicent holds a PhD in Information Technology and Management, and degrees in Telecommunications Engineering and Electronics Engineering. As the driving force behind the consultancy firm x-02.com, Dr. Vicent specializes in the end-to-end architectural design and implementation of Higher Education institutions. He possesses a rare expertise in building universities from the ground up, navigating the entire lifecycle from strategic government negotiations and complex legal approvals to the comprehensive planning of official degree programs. His consultancy work serves as a benchmark for educational innovation, focusing on the deep digitalization of universities and the conceptualization of pioneering teaching models that integrate cutting-edge technologies to redefine higher education. Throughout his career, he has been a trusted advisor for prestigious institutions such as La Salle University of Mexico, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and Universitat de Vic (UVic). Dr. Vicent has spearheaded the creation, management, and transformation of university institutions across Europe and the Americas with a global perspective. His extensive leadership experience includes serving as the Rector of the University of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Rector of the La Salle Open University, and Rector of WE University. A cornerstone of his international influence was his tenure as the Regional Director for Europe and Africa of a prominent international network of Catholic Universities, where he coordinated strategic efforts across diverse regions. Furthermore, his expertise in modern academic structures is reflected in his roles as Counselor of Woolf University, Chancellor of Universitat Europea and of the Deanships in the School of New Interactive Technologies of the University of Barcelona and in the EU BUsiness School of Barceloa. His scientific contribution is extensive, having led more than 37 research projects that secured over €1.7 million in competitive funding. He is a prolific author with a bibliography that includes 10 books and over 70 scientific articles published in international journals. His academic standing is further distinguished by his appointment as a Corresponding Academic of the Royal European Academy of Doctors, a prestigious institution that counts 19 Nobel Prize winners among its members.

Brief Bio
Professor B. Mairéad Pratschke is a researcher and advisor working at the intersection of AI strategy, governance, design and education. Her work is focused on designing future-ready learning systems that align human expertise with intelligent technologies. She is author of Generative AI and Education: Digital Pedagogies, Teaching Innovation and Learning Design (Springer, 2024); New Horizons for Higher Education: Teaching and Learning with Generative AI (NDLN, 2025); and "From AI Tools to AI Systems: Designing Pedagogical Systems for Learning" in the Handbook of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Education (Springer, forthcoming 2026). She is Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Data Science Institute; External Advisory Board member and Research Fellow at the US National Science Foundation-funded AI Institute for Adult Education and Online Learning (AI-ALOE); and member of the Executive Committee for the AI-MetaACES conference series organised under the Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education. She works with professional associations, institutions and organisations internationally to rethink learning models and lead systems-level change. Website: https://maireadpratschke.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maireadpratschke/

Brief Bio
Thomas Staubitz is Professor of Educational Technology and Social Learning at the German University of Digital Science. He teaches several online courses on software development to students with diverse academic backgrounds and varying levels of prior experience. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in International Media and Computer Science, as well as a doctorate in Internet Technologies and Systems. His research focus is on the delivery of such courses in a scalable way. Before joining the German University of Digital Science in 2024, he served as a Senior Lecturer at the Hasso Plattner Institute’s openHPI MOOC platform for over a decade. In this role, he was involved in a broad range of projects in collaboration with industry and public-sector partners, including SAP and the World Health Organization, as well as in publicly funded national and European research initiatives. At openHPI, he taught several MOOCs on Java programming and contributed to the design and production of numerous additional courses in collaboration with faculty members and students. Within this context, he also completed his doctoral dissertation on the assessment of team-based, gradable assignments in large-scale learning environments. His interest in online learning dates back to his undergraduate studies, where he worked on the development of an automated grading system for programming exercises. During his master’s studies, he worked on educational projects involving children in schools, including the production of radio plays using the XO laptop. Guided by the conviction that teaching is a powerful means of learning, he began teaching programming to diverse audiences while still completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In addition to his teaching activities, he has held several roles in software development and product management and has published research on open online learning in international conferences and journals. He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a Senior Member of the IEEE, a member of the ACM Learning@Scale and EMOOCs steering committees, and serves as a reviewer for multiple conferences and academic journals.