The EDEN Interviews: Georgi Dimitrov

Pure Diversity (1993) by Mirta Toledo

The EDEN interviews are a series of conversations I have recorded with keynote speakers during EDEN summer conferences. EDEN video interviews have included Tony Bates, Cristobal Cobo, Sir John Daniel, Jim Groom, Melissa Highton, Michael G. Moore, Sugata Mitra, Marci Powell, Yves Punie, Audrey Watters, Lesley Wilson and Martin Weller. In this interview, which took place during the 2017 Conference in Jonkoping, Sweden, I talked to European Commission representative Georgi Dimitrov.

Georgi Dimitrov joined the European Commission in 2008 where he was instrumental in establishing the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). In his current role Georgi manages the initiative HEInnovate which was jointly launched in November 2013 by the European Commission and the OECD. HEInnovate focuses on higher education institutions (HEI) interested in developing their entrepreneurial strategies and capabilities. He also manages the development of evidence based and policy initiatives related to innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education.

Before joining the Commission, Georgi worked for a leading multinational telecommunication company in Düsseldorf, Germany. Prior to that, he worked an IT start-up for four years in different functions (Erlangen, Germany). Georgi studied at the University of Bonn  with a first degree in European Studies, and the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg where he completed his PhD. He is currently a student at the British Open University where he is studying technology management.

The conversation ranged from diversity and innovation to the digital economy and ICT in schools, colleges and universities across Europe. The interview offers fascinating insights into the future of European education and the role technology will play in developing new pedagogies and approaches.

The EDEN interviews: Georgi Dimitrov by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.