The 15th international ILIAS conference will be taking place on the 8th and 9th of September 2016. The hosts this year are the Armed Forces of the Netherlands in Utrecht.

A particular thematic focus this year is on interconnectedness: over a series of presentations and workshops it will be shown how ILIAS can be used productively and effectively linked to and in conjunction with other systems and applications. A second focus will be on the strengthening of communication and interaction when using ILIAS: How can students be further motivated to become active users of ILIAS and work collaboratively?

Further focal points will concern themselves with learning successes and competence management as well as the use of e-learning in the classroom. Towards the end of the conference we will then be taking a look into the future with 'Learning in the Year 2020' – a series of three presentations.

This year again, we have been able to attract two high-calibre keynote speakers: The Dutch e-learning expert Wilfred Rubens will speak at the opening of the conference about the importance of social learning in higher education and continuing vocational education. The closing keynote speech will be given by the e-learning programme manager of NATO, Paul Thurkettle, in which he will give us some insight into the history and current challenges of the NATO e-learning programme which has been using ILIAS since 2003.

The full conference programme and the online registration page can be found at www.ilias-conference.org. Happily, there is again an early-bird rate for those of you who book early, as well as a general discount for members of the ILIAS Society! This means that Society members can get the two conference days including all workshops and presentations, catering, guided tour of Utrecht and a social event for only €250! The only requirement for this special price (in addition to being an ILIAS Society member) is that you register before 30th June.

We look forward to a large number of participants!