http://swrc.ontoware.org/ontology#Misc Open distance learning: managing change - building capacity en Educational environment Changes Information explosion Technology explosion Learning drivers Capacity building G Dhanarajan Educational change Global economic and development changes and challenges are fast and furious. The pace of change is requiring nations to produce a faster, smarter, better caliber of human being., not just a few in numbers but entire communities of such individuals. Our current systems of human development are impending the rate at which this should be happening. Future education systems, some of them already in the making, will have to be designed exploiting the full potential of technologies. At the same time those in charge of these systems will require new skills, knowledge and insight. They also need to develop new partnerships and be prepared for greater accountabilities and transparencies. This paper deals with the inevitability of global changes and challenges in the practice and provision of education generally and distance education particularly especially in the context of higher education. Electronic Paper presented at the International Summit on Open Distance Education (China Central Radio & TV University) (16-17 October 2009; Beijing, China) Wawasan Open University