Representatives from 11 Florida universities participated in the summit, along with professors and authorities from more than 20 Dominican institutions of higher education.

Santo Domingo, D.N.- The U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo and the Instituto Cultural Domínico-americano (ICDA) held the Florida-Dominican Republic Higher Education Summit, with the objective of promoting connections and strategic alliances between educational institutions in the country and the Florida State.

The event promoted student and faculty exchanges and fostered research cooperation between higher education institutions in both countries.

More than 150 people participated in the Summit, including representatives from 11 Florida universities along with professors and authorities from 20 Dominican institutions of higher education.

During her opening remarks, Ambassador Robin Bernstein highlighted the cultural and geographic ties that unite the Dominican Republic and the State of Florida and the collaboration between Florida and Dominican educational and governmental institutions. She also praised the shared achievements in areas such as health, security and entrepreneurship.

On her part, Darys Estrella, president of the Board of Directors of the Instituto Cultural Domínico Americano, expressed that the main objective of this summit is to establish opportunities for the participating institutions to seek agreements that enrich the quality of their teachers, explore mutually beneficial partnerships, establish the basis for student and teacher mobility agreements, among others.

Summit presentations and discussions revolved around the SIDE priorities defined by Ambassador Bernstein: security, investment and trade, disaster preparedness and education. Within these topics, specific areas of focus included citizen security, cybersecurity, workforce skills development, entrepreneurship education, English language instruction, literacy, university disaster preparedness, among others.

In addition to the presentations, the Summit included visits to universities in Santo Domingo and Santiago by representatives of U.S. institutions, who will observe the facilities and discuss opportunities for cooperation with their counterparts.

The event was attended by authorities and professors from Florida universities, such as Florida International University (FIU), Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, University of Florida and Miami Dade College, among others.

It also included representatives from Dominican universities, educational institutes and private institutions that work in favor of the development of education in the country, as well as members of governmental organizations such as the Ministerio de Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología (MESCYT), the Ministerio de Educación (MINERD) and the Centro de Operaciones de Emergencias (COE).

Participating Florida educational institutions are:

*Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

*Florida International University

*University of Florida

*University of Miami

*Keiser University

*Miami Dade College

*Florida State University

*Palm Beach Atlantic University

*Broward College

*University of North Florida

*Nova Southeastern University