Taipei—Taiwan’s Industrial Development Bureau, the administrative agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan, in collaboration with the Institute for Information Industry (and Digital Education Institute, organized the METAEDU 21, a series of hybrid events spanning from 1 November to 5 November.
Accelerated the growth of education technology (EdTech), webinars and seminars delivered by experienced practitioners formed the lineup of the event.
COVID-19 EdTech Boom: Changing the face of EdTech
The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered the way we live, work, learn, and play. While it has undeniably presented unique challenges that we had to—or have yet to—overcome, the pandemic has also catalyzed an unprecedented EdTech boom.
According to the 2021 Taiwan EdTech Industry Survey Report, the total output value of EdTech in Taiwan amounted to 16.4 billion U.S. dollars. Compared to 2020, the overall output value saw annual growth of 220.9%. Specifically, the pandemic has fuelled the growth in demand for teaching hardware, which in itself accounted for more than 80% of the total output value. teaching software, communication products, cloud video, and learning platforms, and teaching assistive devices, among other deployment requirements.
This stark growth not only points to the pandemic-driven EdTech boom but also cements Taiwan’s key position in the global information and communications supply chain amidst the pandemic.
Riding the wave to accelerate the growth of EdTech
METAEDU 21’s slogan—“Tomorrow We Together”—embodies the need for continued collaborations between industry players and stakeholders to accelerate the growth of EdTech.
The event saw active participation from government agencies of various countries, international research institutions, educators, global venture capital companies, and learning technology professionals from all around the world.
Taiwan stands on a new international stage and event visitors walked away with valuable insights and actionable takeaways.
Shaped around 3 major themes—Innovative Diffusion, Talent Cultivation, and Ecosystem Integration—the inaugural annual event focuses on accelerating the EdTech ecosystem in Southeast Asia by providing an open and collaborative platform.
The five-day-event was held and receiving much attention especially the first day HolonIQ online forum talked about 2021 Taiwan EdTech 50, the 2021 market research report and featured the sharing of award-winning companies on their business ideas and future development plans. HolonIQ is the world's leading impact intelligence platform. They helped several EdTech event in Middle East, Africa, Asia, and this is the first time helping Taiwan to have the Taiwan 50 EdTech and giving the award acknowledgement. On the 2nd day the physical event ceremony giving the Taiwan EdTech 50 awards and the Eduathon—EdTech hackathon live competition. The new EdTech Proof of Concept experience zone that is jointly opened by Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam was also unveiled.
The other 3 days event was the online webinar which is the 2021 International Reading Education Online Forum; the SDG4 Development in SEA Region, experts from the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Communications (Pusdatin) were invited to share and explore the use of technology to accelerate the goal of digital equality; and the final day of METAEDU 21 was international investment experts and overseas startup teams and research institutions giving the EdTech Talk to deliver the investment cooperation, the necessary conditions, and the future of the industry, also the trends, transformation, and acceleration of international development cooperation. The webinars have recorded video available on Youtube channel – METAEDU.
Please visit the EdTech virtual pavilion (https://smartcityonline.org.tw/pavilion.php?vip=METAEDU&fbclid=IwAR3VXwfJQ6ax8xdPwIZ8cz61ftn1jy6AD84Wbu4tjy_9HuhqV39MmZvFnj4)