English 
Alexandria University won first place in the Micro-Certification Excellence Awards – Universities category. This announcement was made on the sidelines of the 13th Ain Shams University International Conference, held as part of the third scientific conference "Quality Practices in Education: Innovative Pathways to Excellence."
Dr. Mona Abdelaal El-Zahry, Director of the Egyptian Centre of the International Institute for Distance Education, presented the results of the competition, which aims to enhance the digital teaching skills of faculty members and students at Egyptian universities.
The award was received on behalf of Alexandria University by Dr. Ghada El-Khayat, Executive Director of the Educational Innovations and Distance Learning Unit at the university. The centre had directed professors to enrol in and complete digital training courses on the IIOE platform as part of its training plan for this year. Alexandria University has achieved remarkable progress in capacity building through this platform. The Centre for Educational Innovations and Distance Learning also participated in the conference through a session titled: "A Roadmap for Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Egyptian Universities."
It is worth noting that this competition is part of an initiative by the Egyptian Centre of the International Institute of Online Learning (IIOE Egypt) in partnership with the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI), which provides free courses through its online platform in the latest fields of digital education.
The competition honoured outstanding students in three main categories:
• University category: The award was given to the university with the highest participation in training courses.
• Faculty category: The faculty member who demonstrated outstanding performance in utilizing the IIOE Micro-Certification program, by obtaining the largest number of course completion certificates.
• Student category: The student who demonstrated outstanding performance in utilizing the IIOE Micro-Certification program, by obtaining the largest number of course completion certificates.
The awards were presented to the winners by Professor Dr. Sherif Keshk, Assistant Minister of Higher Education for Digital Transformation, Mr. Pan Feng, Deputy Director of the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHE), and Professor Dr. Mona Abdelaal El-Zahry, Director of the IIOE Egypt Centre.
