Villa College has said that there were 148 participants and 25 research papers submitted to the first international conference introduced to the education industry in Maldives, the "International Conference on Social Research and Innovation (ICSRI)" 2026.

The conference was organized by Villa College and is being held at the college's QI Campus, with today being the last day. This is the 10th edition of the conference.

The slogan for this year's conference is "Tides of Transformation: Shaping Sustainable Futures".

During the speech given by Villa College Deputy Vice Rector (Research and Innovation) Dr. Mohamed Adil at the opening ceremony, he said that 81 of the 116 abstracts that were submitted to the conference had been accepted, and that 25 full papers had been submitted as well. A total of 138 participants from the government and industries registered for this year's conference.

"The main aim of the conference is to create a strong relationship between researchers, students and industry experts, and to facilitate the opportunity to hold discussions about new ideas about society, science, the development industry and new principles," said the Deputy Vice Rector.

Villa College's Rector Dr. Ahmed Anwar said that the value of the conference will increase with the participation of both local and foreign higher education academies.

"Our aim should be to ensure that the research being done from the conference has a positive impact and is beneficial to society," said Anwar.

The conference was formally inaugurated by Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed.

He said that the conference's theme is in line with the times and is a useful theme.

"The slogan for this year's conference is a very appropriate slogan. Work is being done around the globe by governments, researchers and international institutions in order to find new development models that are economical, social and environmentally friendly," the minister said.

The second issue of Villa College's 9th Volume of their journal, "International Journal of Social Research and Innovation (IJSRI)" was published during the ceremony.

The two-day conference will see a total of three keynote speeches, four panel discussions and eight "Impact Room" sessions. The main purpose of the Impact Room sessions are to bring researchers, policymakers and industry experts together in discussing how they can bring about the required practical policies.

The closing ceremony for the conference will be held this evening. The most notable research papers that have been submitted will receive the "Best Paper Award" and the "Best Paper Presentation Award".