IGNOU to host AI-backed pre-summit on Jan 29 to boost open, distance, digital learning education

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will host “AI Enabled Future Ready Open, Distance and Digital Education (ODDE)”, a pre-summit event on January 29. The objective of the event is to boost open, distance and digital education through an artificial intelligence system.

The event will be held in New Delhi, in alignment with the AI Impact Summit 2026. It will be backed by global technology organisations such as Google, HP, IBM, OpenAI, Microsoft and the ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the official press release said.

The initiative positions the university at the forefront of discussions on how artificial intelligence can reshape open, distance, and digital education systems in India and beyond, with the event designed to “showcase India’s leadership in leveraging AI for inclusive, transnational ODDE systems serving some of the world’s most diverse learner populations,” the release added.

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The pre-summit event contributes directly to the broader summit theme, “Impact of AI on People, Planet and Progress,” with a focused emphasis on “AI Innovation, Efficiency and Scalability in ODDE; and Resilience and Inclusivity to bridge educational divides through AI,” the press release noted.

IGNOU summit: AI-led ODDE frameworks in focus

The pre-summit is designed to generate “operational policy insights which can be implemented through actionable policy insights,” the press release noted.

Deliberations will focus on developing scalable and localised AI solutions for resource-constrained ODDE contexts, fostering global collaboration among ODDE institutions, industry partners, and AI technology stakeholders, and formulating “concrete policy recommendations for presentation at the main AI Impact Summit 2026,” it added.

IGNOU Vice-Chancellor Uma Kanjilal said the university is “proud to convene this pioneering pre-summit forum, leveraging its vast learner ecosystem to demonstrate how AI can contribute to the ODDE mode.”

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She added that with industry stakeholders and state partners already working on the AI–Education model, “this summit will bring forth effective recommendations, frameworks and partnerships for the ODDE,” reflecting IGNOU’s commitment to the Government of India’s vision of positioning India as a global AI innovation leader serving humanity.

Through this pre-summit, IGNOU aims to highlight its role as a pan-India and transnational educator serving nearly 3.9 million learners in India and abroad, while translating the vision of the National Education Policy 2020 into extensible, AI-enabled ODDE models and demonstrating that “world-class AI enabled education is achievable even in resource constrained settings,” the press release said.