WHAT WAS ASEFINNOLAB3 ABOUT?
The third ASEF Higher Education Innovation Laboratory (ASEFInnoLab3) was titled: “Universities’ Role in Teaching AI Skills and Entrepreneurship.” It provided an opportunity for participants to exchange good practices, co-create new ideas, and explore areas for collaboration among their institutions. ASEFInnoLab3 was a 5-week online program that brought together academics and senior administrators from higher education institutions to develop collaborative action plans concerning the universities’ role in teaching AI skills and entrepreneurship.
To learn more about this Project series, visit the programme page.
WHAT WERE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME?
EXPAND THE UNDERSTANDING OF AI SKILL NEEDS
BUILD PROFESSIONAL NETWORK ACROSS ASIA AND EUROPE
CREATE A CONCRETE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT
To learn more about the project, you can read the full Overview here.
WHO PARTICIPATED?
The project brought together 40 participants, representing 20 countries from across Asia and Europe. ASEFInnoLab3 was designed for academics and senior administrators from higher education institutions interested in joining a cohort of like-minded peers who wanted to exchange knowledge, expand their professional network, and collaborate to address challenges concerning teaching AI skills and AI entrepreneurship systems. Participation in this project was by invitation only.
To learn more about the participants, view the ASEFInnoLab3 Participants Booklet here.
WHAT WAS THE PROJECT DESIGN?
This 5-week program took place online from June 28 to July 26, 2023. Participants had to allocate approximately 4 hours per week to prepare for and participate in the sessions. The program had two distinct types of sessions:
Learning Sessions | Every Wednesday
The Learning Session was a 2-hour session that took place every Wednesday, 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM (UTC) (Converted Time Here), from June 28 to July 26, 2023. In each Learning Session, participants heard from leading experts in the field of AI skills and entrepreneurship. Within the session, time was allocated for participants to ask questions and engage in discussions with the experts, facilitators, and their peers.
Mentorship Sessions | Every Friday
The Action Sessions were dedicated to developing collaborative innovation projects, e.g., curriculum development, research proposal, study exchanges, internship programs, incubator enhancement, etc. The Action Session was also for small group discussions, allowing participants to work with their teams.
Self-Paced Study| On Demand
The ASEF eLearning platform was accessible to participants. Resource materials accessible on the eLearning platform included academic papers, videos, and case studies, as well as group discussions.
To learn about the sessions in more detail and access the presentations of the experts, explore the below sections:
The opening session introduced participants to the ASEFInnoLab3 Program, the Facilitators, Mentors, and their Peers. Participants were also introduced to the Canvas specifically designed for the Lab, which guided participants in developing collaborative innovation projects. Lastly, the session also introduced the topic of Systems Thinking.
ASEFInnoLab3 was facilitated by Prof Claudio RIVERA, Dean of the Riga Business School and Dr Paula Elksne, Director, Education Innovation Lab, Riga Business School, Riga Technical University, Latvia.
Participants were greeted by the representatives of co-organisers: Ambassador Toru MORIKAWA, Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF); and Prof Shen YI, Director of International Institution of Global Cyberspace Governance, Director of Center for BRICS Studies, Fudan University, China.
The second session focused on Value Proposition, Target Groups, Outcomes, and Impact. This discussion guided participants in determining how to proceed with the development of a collaborative innovation project that improved teaching programs or entrepreneurship projects for AI skills.
Guest speaker of this session was Arno MEERMAN, CEO & Founder, University-Industry Innovation Network.
The third session focused on Activities, Resources, and identifying Stakeholder Groups. These elements were essential to developing the collaborative innovation project and delivering value.
There were two expert presentations on this topic:
- Mr Noor Azizi ISMAIL, Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Business, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia
Dr Joana RESENDE, CEO of UPTEC – Science and Technology Park of University of Porto, Portugal
The fourth session focused on Leadership and Selling your idea. Essential in seeing through a collaborative innovation project is leadership and communication skills.
- Prof Ieva Jakobsone Bellomi, John Cabot University, Italy
- Dr Chiaki Sekiguchi BEMS, Riga Business School, Latvia
The last session of the Lab was dedicated to the presentation of participants. Each team had the opportunity to present their collaborative innovation project to peers, mentors, and facilitators.

Explore the full ASEFInnoLab3 Programme here.
WHAT WERE THE KEY OUTCOMES?

8 Innovation Action Plans
Participants developed joint action plans to enhance teaching, learning and research collaboration and the role of their universities in AI Innovation ecosystems.