Today, we feature a guest post from Co-founder and Director Seb Francis on his recent trip to China.
I recently returned from a visit to China, as part of the UK delegation for the “Education (EdTech) is GREAT Campaign”.
I was delighted that Titus Learning were picked as one of 17 companies operating in the educational technology sector to represent the UK on the trip. Alongside the Department for International Trade (DIT) and China Britain Business Council (CBBC) we spent a week in China, enjoying a varied programme of events and meetings in both Beijing and Shanghai.
The aim of the trade mission was to showcase the work UK companies are doing in the educational technology sphere, and how this could be applied to the rapidly growing market in China.
On the Shanghai leg of the trip we were joined by Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Jo Johnson MP, who gave me some valuable insights into the growing importance of China as a world leader in education.
I was keen to explore opportunities for collaboration with Chinese firms working in the same space, particularly around localisation and translation of our products, and had the opportunity to meet with both New Oriental and 51 Talk, two major players in the provision of online learning.
A highlight of the trip was definitely the UK-China EdTech Forum, where I had the opportunity to present Titus Learning’s services to over 150 education experts, and also attended key presentations from government and private organisations around the future of the Chinese education market.
Before leaving for the UK, I took the opportunity to visit a couple of our existing client schools, Wellington College Shanghai and Dulwich College Suzhou, to keep up to date with how they are using our products, and garner some feedback on how we can better tailor our services to the Chinese market. Finally, there was a bit of space in the diary for sightseeing!
Overall, the trade mission was an incredibly valuable learning experience, and a unique opportunity to compare notes on the state of the market and the new technologies in the offing.
I’m looking forward to returning to China in the coming weeks, this time as part of a Titus Learning delegation which will also take in Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea. We’ll be publishing full details of the itinerary on the blog shortly.
