25 June 2014 at 9:00 am
Poised for Growth: NZ’s Edtech Industry can capitalise on a world-class education system
“The chance to network with others in the same sector was a fantastic opportunity to establish links and gain wisdom from others’ experience” says Tony Gallagher of Kids Talk Media following the EdTech for Export Conference in Wellington on 19-20 June.
“Talking with people who have been marketing English Language Learning products in the same target country was invaluable and enabled me to reconsider my start-up’s business model before its launch next month.
“A five minute demonstration of our product was enough to generate feedback that was both enlightening and encouraging,” says Tony.
Sponsored by Education New Zealand and organised by Grow Wellington the conference brought together over 180 people from edtech companies, education organisations and business development agencies.
The conference was opened by Steven Joyce, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment who emphasised the goal to grow the value of export education services from $104m in 2012 to $500m by 2025.
The Minister urged the industry to collaborate and seek export growth - a message which was reinforced by international keynote speaker, Lee Wilson, CEO of Filament Games from the US. He argued that globalisation is a strategic imperative for the edtech industry, given that the prices for digital and online products were falling but the cost of doing business is not. In his view this left two options – building an expensive branded product or scaling up for export.
It was encouraging to hear other speakers such as Dr Errki Sutinen of the University of Eastern Finland, Dr Sue Watson of Summit Education Asia Pacific and Jennifer Carolan of NewSchools Venture Fund noting that the New Zealand industry was well-placed to build on its unique advantage – a world-class education system.
The conference provided an opportunity for edtech exporters to share their export stories and showcase their products. Jan Zawadzki of Hapara shared his company’s story from the development of its Teacher Dashboard product with Auckland teachers, through participation and graduation from the US-based Imagine K12 education incubator, to exporting to 30 countries around the world.
A diverse range of companies such as Vital English, LearnKo, Metia Interactive and Pixelhouse shared their product development or market stories with an appreciative audience. The business capability conference stream explored the worlds of planning, design and investment to underpin a sustainable edtech business.
You can learn more about New Zealand’s edtech companies by visiting the et4e website and business directory at http://www.edtechforexport.co.nz/.
Video coverage and copies of presentations will be downloaded to the site over the coming week.
