Digifest 2026 is coming soon: get a taste of what to expect

Explore a little of what’s in store across two days of thought-leading keynotes, practical workshops, interactive sessions, and more.

A decade of doing: lessons on youth leadership

Opening this year’s event is Melati Wijsen, the founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags and YOUTHTOPIA, and a changemaker since she was just 12 years old. Melati has inspired global action on sustainability and youth empowerment, presented two TED talks, opened for President Barack Obama and spoken at the UN Headquarters in New York. Now she's bringing her powerful story to the Digifest stage.

Melati will reflect on her decade-long journey from launching Bye Bye Plastic Bags to building a global learning platform that empowers young people worldwide. She will share the key lessons youth activism has taught her about clarity of purpose, courage in complexity, and the power of community-led action. Melati’s session will challenge us to rethink how we listen to, learn from, and collaborate with the next generation. Together, we’ll explore what authentic intergenerational partnership looks like in shaping responsible, ethical, and impactful futures.

Generative AI: are we asking the right questions to protect values and humanity?

Our closing keynote on day two, Danny Liu, is a molecular biologist by training, a programmer by night, a researcher and a faculty developer by day, and an educator at heart.

He’s a multi‑award‑winning professor of educational technologies at the University of Sydney, co‑chairing the university’s AI in education working group and leading Cogniti.ai, an initiative that puts educators in the driver’s seat of AI.

AI is evolving at an extraordinary pace, and it’s easy to focus only on the immediate challenges while overlooking the bigger questions that will shape our future. In his keynote, Danny invites us to step back and consider what lies ahead - exploring the critical conversations we need to start now to prepare our students, colleagues, and institutions for what’s coming. He’ll delve into what we truly value (and whether it shows), the rush to efficiency, what we risk losing along the way, and how we can create learning experiences that honour both humanity and technology.

Learn and connect: more than 30 breakout sessions across two days

From blended learning and digital poverty to shaping AI, driving digital change, and exploring transnational education - this year’s programme dives into the issues that matter to the sector. Expect immersive storytelling, innovative collaboration and much more across panels, presentations, and workshops.

Highlights in the programme so far include:

Taking learning beyond blended: three of our beyond blended pilot universities will share findings from their research on how curriculum teams are designing for different modes and learning needs
Identifying the impact of digital poverty on the learning experience: we’ll explore the impact of digital poverty and provide actions for equity
The power and the principles: who’s really shaping AI? Compare ethics, policies, and practices influencing education, ensuring fairness, accountability, and trust in AI adoption
Placing libraries at the centre of digital transformation: digital transformation using our library lens framework to support research, digital skills and digitally enhanced spaces
Global education and technology: delivering digital equity in transnational education

Digifest returns to the ICC Birmingham and online on 10-11 March. Book your place now.

The event is a CPD-accredited event. Attendees can contribute their learning time towards individual continuing professional development goals.