Paul W.

Paul West provides independent, quality support to the community of education professionals and policy-makers who are dedicated to improving access to and quality of primary, secondary, higher, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET). He supports professionals and policy-makers through key services, including collaboration and the aggregation and sharing of information and useful practices through consultancies and communities of practice. Paul leads projects that provide innovation to increase access and improve quality of education. Paul reads and curates information on OER and ICT in Education (http://www.scoop.it/t/ict-oer-in-education) and Leadership (http://www.scoop.it/t/business-sense-by-paul-west). In London, United Kingdom, Paul led the Commonwealth Education Hub project to enable policy makers and professionals connect and collaborate (https://www.thecommonwealth-educationhub.net/). In Pretoria, South Africa, Paul worked to establish South Africa's national Career Development Service (http://www.careerhelp.org.za). He established a national career advisory helpline, including promotion of career advice through radio, telephone, social media and Internet, and the establishment of the National Career Advice Portal (http://ncap.careerhelp.org.za). In Vancouver, Canada, Paul was Director: Knowledge Management and Information Technology at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Paul led the establishment of the multi-national “Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth” initiative (www.col.org/vussc) and led COL’s work in copyright (www.col.org/copyright). In South Africa, Paul lectured in Management (by distance education); established non-formal education at the institution; established ICT centres to support learners and created the African Digital Library, a service that provides full-text eBooks to residents of African countries via the Internet. Personal website: http://www.paulwest.org