 Greetings from the Commonwealth of Learning. It's an honor to be virtually present at this joint conference being hosted by two important distance education associations, Diasa and Nadiosa, with UNISA and the University of Pretoria. The theme is very appropriate, as each of these institutions and organizations has made significant contributions to the growth and development of open learning in Africa. I'm very grateful also to our former board member and call fellow Jenny Glennie and the organizers for the kind invitation. Today I'll address the topic you have suggested, why open learning is of increasing importance and not just for distance providers. I will first reflect on what we mean by open learning and then look at three pillars of openness relevant to both distance and campus institutions and finally explore the possible ways forward. First, what do we mean by open education? Right from the early days of correspondence courses and external degrees, the trust has been to throw open the ivory towers of higher education. Policy makers from developing countries saw open and distance learning as an opportunity for democratizing education and reaching the unreached. Though we date the origins of open learning to the last 150 years, the foundations can be traced right back to philosophers such as Confucius, who proposed the principle of, and I quote, providing education for all people without discrimination, unquote. As an ODL community, we have always understood that open education describes policies and practices that permit entry to learning with as few barriers as possible. The founding chancellor of the Open University of the UK, Lord Crowther, defined openness in relation to people, places, methods, and ideas. This is the philosophical basis of open education. But how open are we in our practices, even today? Globally, the concept of open education has wider connotations. According to Tony Bates, open education refers to education for all, which meant providing universal primary education. It also meant open educational resources, open access research, open textbooks, open data. When we use the phrase open learning today, we are extending the definition to include not just formal education, but non-formal and informal learning at all levels. In short, the term open learning covers the entire spectrum of lifelong learning and essential requirement for the creation of a learning society. As Joseph Stiglitz and Bruce Greenwald say, and I quote, what truly separates developed from less developed countries is not just a gap in resources or output, but a gap in knowledge, unquote. According to a recent UNDP report, in sub-Saharan Africa, only 8% of the relevant age group have access to tertiary education as compared to the 70% gross enrollment ratios in OECD or the rich countries. As countries try to increase participation rates in tertiary education, they will need innovative approaches. Open learning could be one possible answer. Let us consider the three aspects of openness which are interrelated, access, content, and technology. All three are common to both distance and campus provision, first, the issue of access. Today, even campus universities like MIT in the US have opened their doors to anyone anywhere in the world through massive open online courses or MOOCs and microcredentials. 33% of students in the US take at least one online course which indicates that there is a convergence of campus and distance learning provision. Paul is working with universities in Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Iswatini, Uganda, and Zambia to support the integration of open distance and online learning for increased access. Open learning also means inclusion. In South Africa, 80% of disabled people aged 20 to 24 are not in tertiary education. UNISA has established an Advocacy and Resource Center for Students with Disabilities. The Open University of Tanzania is helping people with vision disabilities to use ICCs for learning. Access, therefore, is not only about increasing enrollments and numbers, but also about promoting flexibility, diversity, and inclusion. The second dimension of openness is availability of content. Affordability and costs are a key barrier to access in tertiary education. Let me refer to a study conducted in the University of Cape Town, which found that the students spend approximately $1,400 US dollars for first year textbooks alone. The book allowance for students on a bursary scheme is about $280. Look at the gap. And because of this, students cannot buy textbooks. A call study on open textbooks in Antigua and Barbuda has shown that students in Antigua State College not only saved 750 Eastern Caribbean dollars per semester, but also improved learning outcomes by 5.5%. OER can help us reduce costs and improve effectiveness. The Cape Town Declaration in 2007, a major milestone in the OER movement, identifies other dimensions of openness, including open technologies, which brings us to the third pillar of openness that is technology. We have witnessed major developments in the previous decade. MOOCs, with their global reach, are increasing access. But have they really embraced openness? Blockchain technologies can help promote new ways of credentialing and accreditation, again, opening up education and making it more flexible. Artificial intelligence is opening up new ways of teaching and learning. For example, AI techniques can simulate one-to-one human tutoring to provide timely feedback, all without the presence of a human teacher. As we all know, timely feedback is essential for learner engagement and retention. So we can see that both campus and distance providers are addressing common challenges of access, affordable content, and improved learning outcomes. How can we learn from each other? And what is the way forward? One, all institutions will need to embrace open policies and open educational practices. Two, we can never truly open up learning unless we have innovative mechanisms to recognize and accredit learning across jurisdictions. Finally, technology by itself does not expand access. And we can reach the unreached only when technology is placed in an appropriate social, economic, and political context. And both teacher and learner are empowered to use the technology effectively. So thank you very much for your kind attention. And I wish this conference every possible success.