Hyderabad/Vancouver (Canada): Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University and Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada, entered into a landmark Partnership Agreement to strengthen collaboration in digital education, Artificial Intelligence, faculty development and technology-enabled learning on Thursday at Vancouver, Canada. The MoU was signed by Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani, Vice-Chancellor, BRAOU and Prof. Peter Scott, President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning in the presence of Mr. Venkatesh Dhotre, IAS, Special Secretary, Department of Education, Government of Telangana.
Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani described the Partnership Agreement as a transformative initiative for BRAOU. “This collaboration brings cutting-edge global expertise, advanced digital technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and international best practices to BRAOU. It will significantly accelerate our journey towards becoming a globally recognised AI-enabled digital university. The partnership will strengthen our world-class digital ecosystem and enable us to provide high-quality, accessible, and affordable higher education to learners at scale.
The Agreement also provides for the joint development of Open Educational Resources, scholarly publications, research studies, international mentorship programmes, expert consultations, peer-learning networks, and Joint Expert Teams to oversee the implementation of each work stream through structured Joint Contribution Agreements. The Partnership Agreement represents a major milestone in BRAOU’s internationalization, digital transformation journey. It reinforces the University’s commitment to innovation, technology-enabled learning, and global collaboration, while strengthening its vision of becoming a world-class Digital Open University serving learners across Telangana, India, and the Commonwealth.
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Prof. Peter Scott, President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, highly appreciated the visionary leadership of Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani in transforming BRAOU into a digitally empowered Open University. He lauded the University’s remarkable initiatives in building a comprehensive digital ecosystem and observed that BRAOU is emerging as a digital hub for the future of higher education. He expressed confidence that the Partnership Agreement would further strengthen BRAOU’s capacity to become an international model for AI-enabled Open, Distance, and Digital Learning and would contribute significantly to expanding quality higher education across India and the Commonwealth.
The Partnership Agreement operationalises the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between BRAOU and the Commonwealth of Learning on 18 November 2025 in Hyderabad in the presence of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana, A. Revanth Reddy. While the MoU laid the broad framework for collaboration, the new Agreement provides a detailed implementation roadmap with clearly defined work streams, institutional mechanisms, and measurable outcomes.
Under the Agreement, BRAOU and COL will collaborate in three major areas:
- Digital Transformation: COL will support BRAOU in developing a comprehensive Learning Technology Ecosystem Roadmap to strengthen its digital infrastructure, including the University’s Learning Management System (LMS), digital courseware, Open Educational Resources (OER), e-Books, Digital Badges, BRAOU TV, Hi-BRAOU Digital Radio, learner support systems, and other technology-enabled platforms.
- Capacity Building: The partnership will facilitate faculty development, leadership training, digital pedagogy, instructional design, micro-credential programmes, and capacity building for academic and administrative staff through joint training programmes and knowledge exchange.
- Artificial Intelligence in Education: COL will collaborate with BRAOU in strengthening AI-enabled teaching and learning through the AI in Education Research Laboratory, collaborative research, faculty mentoring, internships, multilingual AI applications, and language translation technologies to enhance learner support and improve access to quality education.
Prof. Kumar Molugaram, Vice-Chancellor, Osmania University, Prof. Rabindranath Solomon, Prof. Pallavi Kabde, and senior officials of the Commonwealth of Learning were presented at the MoU signing ceremony.
