Last year, the Dubai International Conference in Higher Education considered the global challenge of sustaining success in higher education. This year, we posed the question: ‘How do universities combine rigour with relevance?’ Once again we have invited all those involved in the higher education community to come together to share insights related to the provision of education that is rigorous and at the same time relevant. The three key premises of the conference are these: 1. Higher education institutions must demonstrate their relevance to the needs of the workforce in a landscape of constant and rapid economic and social change. 2. They must maintain the rigorous academic standards that are the hallmark of a quality institution. 3. With the accelerating power and reach of the web, universities must meet unprecedented challenges as technological innovation disrupts their traditional business model. Unless individual universities prove that they are capable of adapting successfully in the face of these three pressures, their futures may be uncertain.