As part of the European project "ENTER EdTech" sponsored by the Erasmus+ program, CYENS and GrantXpert Consulting, an event was recently co-organized: "The future of education and the opportunities offered by educational technology for the creation of innovative start-ups by young entrepreneurs".
The event was hosted by the Municipality of Nicosia, in the presence of the Mayor Mr. Constantinos Yiorkadjis, Dr. Nikolas Mastrogiannopoulos, Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation of the Republic of Cyprus, and Chairman of the Board of the Cypriot Research and Innovation Foundation also attended. He introduced the event and welcomed the important work being done to create a high level of innovation in Cyprus' business ecosystem, aided by European programs.
Speakers at the event included Dr. Symeon Retalis, Coordinator of the project ‘ENTER EdTech’ from the University of Piraeus and Dr. Silia Hadjichristodoulou, from GrantXpert Consulting. Dr. Retalis briefly explained the aims and objectives of‘Enter EdTech’ - emphasizing that the EdTech market is growing at a dizzying pace, offering a good opportunity for young entrepreneurs to invest in it.
He also defined what he saw NOT to be true educational technology, explaining that the installation of technological equipment of digital education in schools is not always necessarily innovative.
Dr. Hadjichristodoulou also explained the growth rate of the EdTech sector, emphasizing the need to train more young entrepreneurs within it. The participants then had the opportunity to take part in a high-level discussions with the five keynote speakers, who represented both the business world of EdTech and the academic community of excellence and research. Those speakers were:
Nikolas Kairinos, Founder and CEO of Soffos.ai
Dr. Olga Shvarova, Head ofInnovation, CYENS Center of Excellence
Dr. Panos Siozos, Co-founder and CEO of Learnworlds
Dr. Maria Solomou, Director at PWC Experience Center and Specialist in Educational Technology
Dr. Andri Ioannou, AssociateProfessor and Head of Cyprus Interaction Lab at TEPAK and MRG Leader at CYENS,specialist in the field of educational technology.
The discussion was chaired by Dr. Natasa Christou from CYENS Center of Excellence and Ms.Christina Achilleos from GrantXpert Consulting.
One of the main conclusions of the event was that education is becoming ever more strongly connected to technology as the years pass. Therefore, now is the time to evaluate opportunities that such tech provides for models of digital education in day-to-day scenarios. Our goal should be more flexible education and even more practical technology to assist learning outcomes.
