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About ISIC Event
The ISIC Event is an annual gathering hosted by the International Students Identity Card (ISIC) Association. Each edition focuses on a specific theme, all aimed at empowering students, connecting stakeholders, and strengthening the ISIC community.
The event brings together ISIC Card issuers, students, educational institutions, industry professionals, and partner organizations from around the world to share insights, explore trends, and exchange best practices. It provides a platform for collaboration, innovation, and networking, while fostering meaningful relationships across the global ISIC network.
Participants can expect strategic updates, interactive workshops, case studies, and opportunities for partner engagement, complemented by cultural and social experiences in the host city. By highlighting different topics each year, the ISIC Event supports the development of student-centric solutions and global connections that benefit the international student community.
2026 ISIC Event: Know More, Do Better – Strengthening Our Global Community
The 2026 ISIC Event brought together our global community for a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships, and shape the future of student identity, mobility, and services.
Guided by this year’s theme, “Understanding Your Customer”, and the slogan “Know More, Do Better – For Students, With Schools and Partners,” the programme focused on one clear principle: the better we understand students, their needs, behaviors, and expectations, the better we can serve them.
Across the event, participants engaged in a well-structured and interconnected programme designed to move from insight to action, combining strategy, practical examples, and shared experiences from across markets.
From Insight to Action: Programme Highlights
A strong focus was placed on student insight, research methodologies, and first-party data, helping participants better understand how to turn knowledge into stronger solutions and measurable impact.
The programme featured a range of member-led sessions and case studies:
- From Opinions to Evidence: Making Decisions with Quantitative Data (external partner – Behavio) A practical overview of quantitative research methods, demonstrating how structured data, sampling, and tools can support confident decision-making and market prioritization.
- From Questions to Insights: The Poland Research Story (ISIC Poland) A deep dive into how combined qualitative and quantitative research helped shape pricing, value proposition, and future service development based on real student needs.
- Understanding Users Across Markets (ISIC India & Czech Republic) A cross-market research case study showing how insights can inform product positioning, benefits, and communication strategies across different countries.
- What Students Think (ISIC United Kingdom) Demonstrating how continuous student insight can inform strategy, advocacy, and commercial decisions through verified data and trend analysis.
- The Future of First-Party Data / Cross-Border Use Case (ISIC Belgium) Insights from student mobility research, highlighting how data can support better benefits, ambassador programmes, and partnerships.
- From Students to Ambassadors (ISIC Estonia) A practical case study on building student-led ambassador programme to strengthen engagement and trust.
- Expanding the ISIC Offer: Insurance as a Growth Opportunity (ISIC Poland) Showcasing how integrating insurance products can increase relevance, perceived value, and create scalable growth opportunities.
Key Panel Discussions: Shaping the Future Through Collaboration
The programme featured two key panel discussions addressing important strategic questions for the ISIC community.
“The Future of the Student Market” explored how student needs, expectations, and behaviors are evolving, highlighting emerging trends, future value propositions, and new partnership opportunities across the student ecosystem.
In addition, “From Student Voice to Partnership: Working with Youth and Student Organizations” focused on the importance of collaboration with student and youth organisations, demonstrating how stronger partnerships can help issuers better understand student needs, build trust, and create more relevant and impactful solutions.
Encouraging Curiosity: The Curious Mind Award
New to this year’s event, the Curious Mind Award was introduced to celebrate curiosity, engagement, and active participation – fully aligned with the event theme “Know More, Do Better.”
This initiative was designed to encourage participants not to be passive attendees, but active contributors – asking questions, challenging ideas, sharing perspectives, and driving discussions forward.
Throughout the event, many participants embodied this spirit. The Event Subcommittee recognized two individuals who truly stood out for their openness, curiosity, and genuine passion for learning: Harry Lehtolaakso (ISIC Finland) and Ivo Kneepkens (ISIC Indonesia).
Celebrating Innovation: ISIC Vision Award
Also introduced as a new element of the 2026 programme, the ISIC Vision Award celebrated bold, creative ideas that demonstrate how ISIC can make a meaningful difference in students’ lives.
Focused on real impact rather than reports or numbers, the award highlighted fresh thinking and innovative approaches across the global network.
Five outstanding projects were shortlisted and presented:
- 🇲🇻 Maldives – ISIC Student Exchange Programme
- 🇫🇮 Finland – ISIC Grant for students’ internationalization
- 🇧🇪 Belgium – Social Samba®
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic – Alive Cares
- 🇰🇷 South Korea – Making ISIC Chosen Again
These initiatives showcased innovation across student mobility, wellbeing, engagement, and digital identity.
The 2026 Vision Award winner: South Korea – “Making ISIC Chosen Again” – This project stood out for its strong strategic partnerships, integration into students’ daily lives, and forward-looking approach to digital identity.
Partner Support
This event was made possible thanks to the support of our valued partners. We were pleased to welcome SheerID, Polish Tourism Organisation, Warsaw Tourism Organisation, and Compensa TU S.A. Vienna Insurance Group, whose collaboration contributed to the success of the event.
Special recognition goes to Almatur, our local host, for their strong partnership, dedication, and hands-on support in bringing the event to life in Warsaw.
Stronger Together
The 2026 ISIC Event once again demonstrated the strength of our global network – bringing together insights, ideas, and people to build a stronger future for ISIC.
Beyond the sessions, the event created space for meaningful conversations, new connections, and shared experiences – reinforcing that our collective success depends on how well we learn from each other, collaborate, and move forward together.
Past ISIC Events
ISIC Event 2025 in Seoul
From May 19 to 23, the ISIC global community gathered in Seoul for the highly anticipated ISIC Event 2025, hosted under this year’s powerful theme: Driving ISIC Forward with Digital Innovation.
ISIC Event 2024 in Tallinn
ISIC Event 2024 took place from Monday 22nd to Friday 26th of April 2024, in the Nordic Hotel Forum, in Tallinn, Estonia, and was organized in-person only.
ISIC Event 2023 in Prague
This year was special as we celebrated 70 years of ISIC Association. Event 2024 took place from Monday 6th to Friday 10th of November 2023, in the Stages Hotel, in Prague, Czech Republic.
ISIC Event 2022 in Belgrade
The 11th ISIC Event took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Belgrade, Serbia from Monday 9th to Friday 13th of May 2022, organized in a hybrid format allowing ISIC members to attend in person and online as well.
Sponsor ISIC Event
ISIC Event offers our partners a valuable opportunity to strengthen their visibility and play an integral role in a global gathering of ISIC stakeholders. If you are considering sponsoring, here is what makes our event a meaningful investment.