16. Ministers stressed that ICT was vital to increasing access at all levels, hence improving the efficiency of the education system, but that technology should be driven by educational needs. They noted that while there was a plethora of initiatives for the development of Open Education Resources (OER), such as scientific publications, eBooks and journals, there was a need to set up a common platform for OER materials for harmonisation and ease of access. They further highlighted the need for a common framework for all open universities of the Commonwealth, especially those in small states. Quality assurance mechanisms should be strengthened to make them more relevant to the needs of stakeholders.

Though the concept is simple, the economic potential is tremendous and the advantages are two-fold: First, OERs can lower education costs substantially

OERs can also help universities reduce their marketing costs

Open resources can also help bolster a school's global reputation: 91% of visitors

Openness is a fundamental value underlying significant changes in society and is a prerequisite to changes institutions of higher education need to make in order to remain relevant to the society in which they exist”

Exploring the complex “supersystem” of higher education, Wiley and Hilton (2009) state that there is an alarming disconnect between higher education and broader society or “supersystem”. The major six disconnections, according to Wiley and Hilton (2009, pp.1-5) are the move from analog to digital, the move from tethered to mobile, from isolated to connected, from generic to personal from consumers to creators and from closed to open

There is an increase in free sharing “on a scale never before seen” (Wiley & Hilton, 2009, p.3)