The 21st ICDE World Conference aims to document achievements and investigate the challenges facing those seeking to provide open and distance education for all learners in a world that is becoming increasingly networked. The main theme for the Conference is thus:

Areas

Based on the conference theme, three main areas have been identified. They are:

1.	Basic education
2.	Higher education
3.	Continuing education *
	* including company and workforce training

Streams

Within each area, the conference will explore the challenges of providing lifelong learning opportunities through open and distance education systems that are enhanced by information and communication technology (ICT) networks, under the following streams:

• philosophy, policies and strategies
• content and skills
• pedagogies and technologies
• support and services
• management
• research and evaluation
• quality assurance and accreditation.