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captainmukeshkumar-blog · 11 years

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From Smartclass to Education Cities: India Plans for IT Education Boom

According to recent reports, more and more Indian technology companies plan to fuel virtual classroom growth across the country. For example, Educomp Solutions is a pioneer in this field, having launched the curriculum-building digital content library software Smartclass in 2004–the software is now utilized in more than 12,000 K-12 schools across 560 districts in India, with a growth rate of nearly 20 schools a day.

Faster learning assessment tools, like a teacher’s ability to display questions about the current lesson while students submit real-time answers on their own personal answering devices, allow instructors to quickly review or repeat concepts that students have not understood. However, with a population as large as India’s and in a country where many rural schools still lack basic necessities like electricity and plumbing, some wonder whether there is a greater need for infrastructure improvements across the board. In the meantime, companies like Educomp have offered three-to-five-year payment programs in order for more schools to participate.

India is a country with more than 1.3 million schools and the world’s largest population of youth between five and 24 years of age. In a 2012 Education Outlook report, New Delhi-based consultant firm Technopak estimates that India will require at least six million more trained teachers by 2020 to attain the world average in student-teacher ratios. With huge illiteracy and teacher training gaps, India may be looking to the private sector for cutting edge education tools. Yet, for the time being, private schools seem to be disproportionately reaping the benefits. Only 20% of India’s schools are private, and only ten percent of those private schools currently utilize multimedia classroom teaching. The remaining majority of government schools are reportedly making little to no progress in utilizing information and communications technology.

Despite this glaring disparity, tech stakeholders hope to see the market for digitized school products (1) reach between USD two and four billion by 2020 in private schools and (2) grow to five times the current market value of USD $750 million in government schools. Much of this classroom IT growth is already concentrated in large cities. Studies also show high growth rates in slightly smaller tier-two and tier-three cities, like Barpeta (Assam), Sohagpur (Madhya Pradesh), and Balia (Uttar Pradesh). Smaller cities view digital classroom products as a proactive step in boosting competitiveness. In order to attract this smaller-city demographic, India’s Pearson Education Services is offering monthly payment models equivalent to about two US dollars per student a month.

Broad technology initiatives to develop “smart schools,” distribute subsidized electronic tablets, and utilize Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) are making inroads as private/public partnerships work to experiment with projects’ feasibility and affordability. Moreover, northern India has its eye on attracting international students to the region by building education hubs. The government of Punjab recently announced its plans to develop four education cities, aiming to attract satellite campuses of prestigious international universities.

#educomp #educomp news #educomp review #shantanu prakash #educomp forbes #educomp forbes update #educomp euro kids #Educomp shantanu Prakash #educomp smart class

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captainmukeshkumar-blog · 11 years

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Educomp, CERT in pact for education initiatives in Gulf region

NEW DELHI: Educomp Solutions today said it has signed an agreement with the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT), Abu Dhabi, to deploy digital education solutions in the UAE and the GCC region.

The agreement is a forward-looking collaboration where CERT will deploy Educomp's digital education initiatives to help promote a strong national work force and introduce innovative technologies to the UAE and the GCC region, Educomp said in a statement.

This will enhance organisational efficiency and performance as part of its mandate, it added.

The GCC or the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf comprises UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

The agreement mandates both parties to jointly explore the creation of a Centre of Excellence showcasing smartclass to the UAE and the region, offer vocational training projects in areas, and showcase Educomp's educational platforms and tools in the UAE.

"The collaboration with CERT is an extension of our long term strategy to expand internationally. This agreement signals a breakthrough in our strategy for the Middle East and promises exponential growth on the back of the GCCs heightened emphasis on enhancing education infrastructure in the Gulf region," Educomp CMD Shantanu Prakash said.

He added that Educomp will be looking at trebling growth in international markets in the next couple of years.

#educomp #Educomp shantanu Prakash #educomp euro kids #educomp forbes update #educomp news #educomp forbes #educomp review #educomp smart class

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captainmukeshkumar-blog · 11 years

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Learning.com Wins Three Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence-Learning.com

Three Learning.com products were recently selected for the 2012 Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence. Learning.com Marketplace and Middle School STEM both won awards in the New Product category, and Aha!Math earned recognition as a Best Upgraded Product in the prestigious 30-year-old recognition program.

“As schools continue to have to do more with less, buying the right solution for your district needs is more important than ever,” said Kevin Hogan, editorial director for NewBay Media’s Tech & Learning Group. “Tech & Learning is proud to present these recommended products that have been put to the test by our experienced educational team of judges.”

The Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence are given annually to digital products that break new ground as well as those that added significant enhancements to proven education tools. A panel of more than 30 educators, who tested more than 160 entries, selected the winners.

“These three recognitions from Tech & Learning are testament to Learning.com’s dedication to providing innovative, ground-breaking solutions that improve student learning,” said Learning.com Chief Technology Officer Suketu Pandya. “The Awards of Excellence are especially meaningful because they’re determined by a panel of educators.”

Marketplace provides digital content that is searchable, educationally relevant and aligned to state standards. The expanding digital content library now includes 60 providers, in addition to more than 300,000 free and fee-based digital learning objects. Middle School STEM provides an engaging, effective STEM education for middle school students. It blends digital experiences and project-based learning to engage students and increase motivation. Aha!Math is a supplemental K-5 curriculum that builds students' foundational skills for math success. Fully aligned to state and Common Core standards, Aha!Math supports teachers with multiple models of instruction.

#educomp #educomp news #educomp news update #educomp review #Educomp shantanu Prakash #shantanu prakash #educomp update #educomp solution

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Strengths and Sins of Today’s Marketer-pitchonnet.com

“Most marketing leaders are in their forties, it is the digital era and the internet world and one needs to unlearn, re learn and learn. These are the three most important words for a marketer,” said Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Aditya Birla Group – Financial Services, in a panel discussion about the ‘Competency Skills Needed for Today’s Marketers’ at the conference held by Dr Philip Kotler on ‘Eight ways to grow your market share – The Future of Marketing’. Among other panellists were Michael D King, VP, IBM Global Education, Dr Philip Kotler, Shantanu Prakash, Founder Educomp Solutions. The discussion was moderated by Shruti Verma Singh, Consulting Editor and Anchor, NDTV.

Dr Philip Kotler said that, relationship building is a major competency skill that is required today, more than just selling a product, one should work out relationships with distributors, dealers and suppliers. “Relationships are built on trust, there should be more focus on designing experiences to enhance relationships. Content development is also necessary, it is a major factor that adds up to a relationship,” Kotler added.

A common view of the panel was that the sales officials are understanding the value proposition of the product offering and doing the basic marketing function tailored to the client. Hence, slowly getting integrated with the marketing department of brands.

Prakash raised an issue about the interesting part of 21st century marketing. He said that in today’s world, one listens to the customer far greater than it has ever been. “There are social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter etc that add to this,” he added. He further said that brands should not just listen, but “continuously listen” to the consumers. “My message to the sales people is that since customer feedback keeps changing, one should listen in, or else the company will fail in today’s time,” he said.

Kakar reiterating an example from his experience as a marketer said, “We are all into business, business means sales and business means profits. Everything that I believe is a means to an end, and as long as you are contributing to that end, you are valued,” he added. One of the rather interesting points that came out of the ideas being churned about competency of marketers was that marketing is a mix of both art and science, and that there is a need to find a balance between creativity and analytics. If there is too much analytics, creativity and advertising goes down. If creativity is too much, the brand loses track of analytics.

“This is an era where big data is important. We have created more data in the last few years than the whole of human kind. There are a ‘trillion’ devices that are connected through the internet. It means that being data literate and using analytics is something that marketers should be comfortable with,” said King.

A novel term, ‘Return on Investment versus the Return on Insights’ was put forth by Singh of NDTV. Kakar taking this up said that most of the efforts are focused on sales and most of the sales is based on acquisition. “Very important part of marketing and sales is not only acquiring new customers but also retaining existing consumers. Hence, I see analytics as a tool to retain consumers,” he added.

Kotler reiterating the three sins of marketers from the ten sins that he has written about said, “Failing to motivate your employee, not entertaining you consumer and over-exaggerating what you are going to deliver are what marketers should stay away from.”

Singh, as a moderator, wrapping the discussion up, asked what are the skills that markets should have that would make the panellists hire them? To which the panel listed down aspects such as curiosity, adaptability, collaborative skills and technical skills. They also shared that the marketer should have worked in the sales department or team, should have broader business awareness, should be able to work cross culturally, should have a thirst to learn, should be accountable and take responsibility and should have the ability to be one’s own customer.

Kotler ended with the question, asking whether CMOs will become CEOs? Further explaining that the CMO is a spender and does not take into consideration the finances of the brand whereas the CFO is the one who keeps track of all the finances. “If the CFO becomes the CEO, he will maybe curb all expenses of the company,” Kotler added. He further said that one needs to bring a balance, and the CEO should be the one who should be a mix of both.

The conference of the day was preceded by RelioQuick Coffee Book table launched by Philip Kotler. RelioQuick Coffee Table Book is on Sixth Sense of a brand. The sixth sense also referred as the Q sense in the book. The full day certified training programme on ‘Eight ways to grow your market share – The Future of Marketing’ by Dr Philip Kotler was organised by RelioQuick, which claims to be India’s first TUV certified and INS accredited Integrated Marketing Communication Expert in association with JRE School of Management.

#educomp #educomp news #educomp news update #educomp review #Educomp shantanu Prakash #educomp smart class #educomp euro kids #shantanu prakash

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16 Indian companies in emerging top 100 software vendors list-ndtv.com

New Delhi: As many as 16 Indian companies have made it to the list of top 100 software vendors in the emerging markets, commanding a combined revenue of $797 million, says a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report.

The latest PwC global 100 software leaders report also says that in terms of revenue, India was ranked fifth among the emerging markets in 2011.

In terms of software revenue among emerging markets China topped the list with $2,738 million, followed by Israel $1,174 million (2nd), Russia $1,015 million (3rd), Brazil $945 million (4th) and India $797 million (5th).

Meanwhile, Geodesic was ranked 14 on the list of software services revenue, followed by OnMobile (21), Subex (26), Infosys (27), TCS (29), FT India (35) and Tally Solutions (39).

Among other Indian firms, Cranes Software was placed in the 44th position in the list, followed by 3i Infotech (60), Newgen Software (62), Ramco Systems (64), Persistent (65), KLG Systel (71), Polaris Software (72), Educomp Solutions (85) and Teledata Technology (89).

"Emerging markets are poised to play an increasingly pivotal role in the global software industry. Focus on innovation, growing talent pool and government support are just some of the advantages of this market segment," the report said.

Meanwhile, the number of software product firms has grown over the last decade from a little over 100 in 2000 to nearly 2,400 in 2013, it said.

According to the industry body NASSCOM, the revenue from the software product segment currently stands at $2.2 billion and is expected to reach $10 billion by 2020.

The PwC report noted that software-as-a-service is gaining traction. Moreover, industry consolidation and increasing globalisation are also transforming the software sector.

"The Indian IT industry has been primarily identified with software services and this focus has relegated the software products segment to the background. However, of late, we are seeing a change in the fortunes of this segment due to significant growth," PwC India Leader Technology Sanjay Dhawan said.

Emerging technologies such as Social media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) are driving the growth in the software product segment and helping it move to the next level, Dhawan added.

#Educomp shantanu Prakash #educomp #educomp forbes update #educomp news #educomp news update #educomp review #shantanu prakash

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Educomp sells entire 50 per cent stake in Eurokids International

Education solutions provider Educomp Solutions has sold its entire 50 per cent stake in Eurokids International to a group of investors led by GPE India for an undisclosed sum. "This transaction is an important milestone for the business transformation agenda that is currently underway," Educomp Solutions Ltd Chairman and MD Shantanu Prakash said. While he did not disclose the financial details of the deal, Prakash said: "Educomp has made 3x (times) its original investment in Eurokids and has created significant value for its shareholders by making a profit of approximately Rs 70 crore on this investment." The company is pursuing a business transformation agenda that seeks to focus on core businesses of digital content offerings & asset-backed offerings and monetise the non-core assets to unlock value, the company said. Earlier in the year, Educomp had sought growth capital investment of Rs 22 crore in its internet education platform business Authorgen, from Kaizen PE and Bertelsmann. "The completion of the Eurokids transaction is the second milestone in our asset monetisation strategy. The proceeds from the transaction will be ploughed back into our core businesses as well as used to de-lever our balance sheet," Educomp Solutions said.

#educomp #educomp solution #educomp review #educomp news #shantanu praaksh #Educomp shantanu Prakash #shantanu prakash #educomp forbes update #educomp news update

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