The Triennial Conference of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) was held in Vienna, Austria, from July 5 to 8. The Chairman of the Board of Sias, Dr. Shawn Chen, was one of the five experts in the panel discussion, 'New Trends in Education – Four Nations, Five Innovative Institutional Perspectives', and delivered a speech at the Gala Dinner on the evening of the 7th. Over 300 participants from 138 different universities and research institutes, across 46 nations, gathered at the most important event of the IAUP.

Chief guests at the Conference included Aleksandre Jejelava, the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and Minister of Education and Science, as well as representatives from the United Nations and the European Union. United Nations Secretary-General, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, and European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, sent video messages to the participants.

Paul Rübig, Chairman of the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) unit, and Chairman of the Paneuropean Working Group in the European Parliament addressed the guests and participants during the Gala Dinner held at the Hofburg in Vienna. Chief of the United Nations Academic Impact Initiative, Ramu Damodaran, delivered the keynote speech titled, "Who makes an academic impact?", which closed the Conference on July 8.

This year's Conference, the first time it has been held in Austria, put a special focus on innovative technologies for learning and teaching, the use of simulation in knowledge transfer, and industry expectations towards the university of the future.