Growth in EdTech great for NZ exports

“Some of the major trends are now working in our favour,” says Mr Meade, Head of Strategy for Designworks in Wellington. “We are no longer isolated from new markets and increasingly students and consumers prefer to interact remotely, on their terms. This all presents a great opportunity for market growth.”

The national EdTech for Export Conference (eT4e 2014) is on in Wellington on 19 and 20 June. It aims to connect the education sector with tech businesses to ensure New Zealand enjoys growth in this sector – now worth $86 billion globally and forecast to grow to $257 billion by 2017 and is organised by Grow Wellington and Education New Zealand. You can still register for the conference at www.edtechforexport.co.nz

eT4e 2014 will be opened by Hon Steven Joyce, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment and feature international speakers including;

• Jennifer Carolan, head of NewSchools Venture Fund in California

• Jan Zawadzki, founder of Hapara, a company which has already attracted investment from NewSchools from its work in New Zealand

• Lee Wilson, the CEO of Wisconsin-based Filament Games

• Dr Erkki Sutinen, head of the edTech Research Group at the University of Eastern Finland.

An exciting range of speakers from New Zealand include;

• Chris Meade, Head of Strategy for Designworks in Wellington

• Dr Sue Watson, the founding CEO of Summit Education Asia Pacific, a division of the Commonwealth Education Trust

• Silvia Zuur from Chalkle

• Chris Bulman from CustardSquare

• Noeline Anderson, director of digital publishing company Pixelhouse

• Adrian Sallis from Vital English

• Maru Nihoniho from Metia Interactive

• Dave Moskovitz from WebFund.