Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests

In today’s world, no nation can define itself or set its own objectives, without reference to the neighbouring societies and international context in general. Modern society demands international interaction, not only concerning competition but also comparison and cooperation. This is particularly the case with higher education.

Increased globalization has triggered the need for closer cooperation between the Nordic countries, as well as Europe in general, concerning higher education. For instance, - the materialisation of the Bologna-Process has created the channel for mobility of students, academics and ideas as well as enabled the synchronisation of rules and regulations, - all in an effort to make the higher education world a more stimulating and fruitful area.

Here in Iceland, we have during the last decades experienced a boom in the higher education sector. The attendance to higher education has been rising rapidly in recent years, and between 1998 and 2006, the number of students doubled, making the entry rate to higher education almost 80%. It is also worth to mention that two thirds of those who enter higher education in Iceland are women, - making higher education institutions an extremely vital area for the push towards gender equality in modern society.

But this recent higher education boom has brought so much more to Icelandic society. Increased enrolment in higher education affects society in a positive way, - it creates awareness for nature, environment and the need for society to adapt to the concept of sustainable development. It also makes societies, like the Icelandic, less homogenic, more tolerant, more multicultural, more competitive and less vulnerable.

As you all know, Iceland has recently been hit by severe economic crisis. In short one could say, that the crisis has told us one thing in particular - when it comes to investments, the quality of the investment and the process of investing; - quality is better than quantity and sustainable development is absolutely necessary. The crisis has shown us how vital it is to take care of knowledge, to nurse our innovation, hone our skills and seek to make Iceland a knowledge-based society.

The Icelandic government is fully aware of the potentials of the higher educational system in Iceland. At the same time as we are finding ways to cut our losses - to pay our debts and honour our obligations - the government is making its uttermost to endorse the development of the higher education institutions - fully aware that the only way for Iceland to rise from the recent crisis, is to create better opportunities, better possibilities and better environment for the knowledge-based society to flourish - and for higher education, innovation and research to bloom.

However – as you all know, there is one thing to have a motive, - one has also to make sure she has the means. If Iceland is to rely on its higher education system to lead us out of the recent crisis, we have to make sure that the system is running efficiently and that it has the quality of our neighbours - whom we need to compare with to see, whether we are on the right way.

The Nordic countries have a long history of cooperation within the Higher Education Sector. For many years, - most Icelandic students that studied abroad went to the Nordic countries and today, more than 60% of all Icelandic students that study abroad, go to the Nordic countries - and the number of Nordic students who choose to come to Iceland to study is slowly rising.

One could assume that increasing globalization, along with the growing cooperation within Europe, would make close Nordic cooperation, less appealing for its participants. But the development in recent years has shown us that the need for Nordic Cooperation is rather increasing than decreasing. In the field of quality assurance the Nordic cooperation even seems to be rather appreciated by the rest of Europe.

The world of new order in Europe has made the Nordic cooperation even stronger.

During the last couple of years, the Nordic Council of Ministers has met the new challenges of the globalised society by launching its Globalizations Project, by profiling the Nordic Region as a dynamic, international region in higher education.

This task fits well with the recent development within the world of quality assurance in higher education in the Nordic countries. Stakeholders from both the higher education institutions and the quality assurance agencies have made efforts to stand out as a good example for the rest of Europe.

The aim of the conference is to bring together the combined efforts of experts from the Nordic higher education institutions and the Nordic quality assurance agencies and create a forum to discuss the quality of higher education in the Nordic countries and the methods used to ensure the quality of the higher educations systems. The Nordic Masters initiative will be continued, and the Nordic Region will be profiled as a single education area.

The conference emphasises not only the experience of the past but also future challenges that the Nordic higher education is facing with the fulfilment of the Bologna-process and the realization of European Higher Education Area. Among these challenges are the globalization of the higher education, the emergence of joint degrees and the implementation of learning outcomes.

The conference is not only to serve as a common venue for the Nordic countries but also as a forum for the European higher education area in general to get together and learn and shape the Nordic higher education.

One of Iceland’s top priorities this year is to contribute to making the Nordic Region a dynamic, effective, appealing and integrated region for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. The starting point in the area of education will be the initiatives included in the Council of Ministers’ globalisation process.

Creating a favourable environment for a knowledge-based society will require a major

effort to strengthen and expand co-operation among Nordic universities. The importance

of innovation must be widely stressed as well, and supported by close networks

encompassing both business and educational institutions.

The informal forum for cooperation of the Nordic countries concerning Quality Assurance in Higher Education – The Nordic Quality Assurance Network for Higher Education – has during the last decade showed how fruitful and stimulating the cooperation between these countries can be. Each year, the forum, The NOQA – works together on a report on one aspect of Quality assurance. These reports have been an inspiration for many of our European Friends and colleagues, as can bee seen by the fact that ENQA – the European Forum for Quality Assurance in Europe has published some of theme and others have received good critic when introduced at conferences.

Maybe it is time to formalise this close cooperation of NOQA in Quality Assurance. Tomorrow, a panel of experts will discuss whether it is time to give this Nordic Quality cooperation a formal structure. Hopefully this discussion will take into a new era of close Nordic cooperation in a new field.

It is an honour for me to get the chance to address this forum of quality in higher education. On the behalf of the government, and the higher educational sector in Iceland, I would like to welcome you all sincerely and I am convinced that in the next two days we will have a stimulating discussions, - and we will take new steps in cooperation within the field of quality assurance in higher education. It is also my sincere hope that this conference will not only serve as a common forum for our guests to exchange ideas and form partnership for cooperation in the future – but that it will also serve as the first stepping stone on the path towards a common Nordic Area of Quality Assurance in Higher Education.

Welcome to Iceland, welcome to this conference of quality.