According to Graeme, whose company also has offices in Melbourne, Australia, as well as the UK, the world education and training market amounts to some $7tr. He pointed out that this is larger than the global markets for media ($1.4tr), armaments ($1.75tr), and software ($2.4tr) combined.

He added, "EDTRIN wants to be a disruptive influence in the global education and training market because, at present, the world’s education and training infrastructure is not delivering what people need. EDTRIN believes that personal education is key to everyone’s success. This means engaging with a young person, providing education and training materials to them, and managing the relevant education they need for the rest of their career."

Graeme explained that EDTRIN – which is due to float on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the coming months – is looking to partner with learning-content providers in order to distribute their products, especially to the Asia-Pacific region initially.

It’s also looking to work with educational institutions and professional associations that are considering new business models. The third aspect of EDTRIN’s current search is for strategic investment partnerships.

Having found relevant learning content – some ninety per cent of which is in English - it is important to translate and ‘culturise’ it appropriately before it’s delivered, said Graeme, who outlined three pilot studies currently being carried out over the next six months, which involve EDTRIN doing this in Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan.

Other speakers at the EDTRIN event were Chris Butt, the CEO of Cognisess – one of EDTRIN’s UK-based partners – which works in the area of recruitment, ensuring that organisations employ the right people in the right jobs, and the internationally renowned, California-based learning-management system (LMS) analyst Craig Weiss. In addition to Craig explaining his view of LMS market trends, he also announced the formal launch of a new corporate online learning think tank – The Company of Thought – comprising a number of independent analysts and commentators drawn from around the world.

Chris explained that CVs (or resumes) are, by nature, subjective. They don’t give prospective employers a complete and objective picture of job candidates. Given that the UK recruitment industry is valued at some £28bn a year – and it’s the seventh largest recruitment industry in the world – Chris’ firm uses neuroscience to help provide more objective assessments of candidates. Focusing on people’s cognitive function, emotional intelligence, personality, and social intelligence, along with their general health and wellbeing, the Cognisess model uses game play and big data to tell potential employers what they need to know.

Hosted by Geoffrey Conaghan, The Agent-General for Victoria, Australia, the event was intended to encourage the UK’s top eLearning-content producers to become suppliers to EDTRIN. Mr Conaghan explained that since EDTRIN’s launch – also at Australia House – last July, the company had floated on the Australian Stock Exchange, opened offices in Singapore, and acquired a number of Australia-based companies.

While EDTRIN’s operational headquarters are located in Singapore, it has developmental offices in Melbourne, Australia. This places EDTRIN in the educational epicenter of the region, giving it premium entry to target markets in the Asia Pacific, China, Indian Sub-Continent, and Middle East and North African regions.

For over 20 years, Bob Little has specialised in writing about, and commentating on, corporate learning – especially eLearning – and technology-related subjects. His work has been published in the UK, Continental Europe, the USA and Australia. You can contact Bob via bob.little@boblittlepr.com His e-book, ‘Perspectives on Learning Technologies’ (e-book; ASIN: B00A9K1VVS) is available from The Endless Bookcase and from Amazon. It contains over 200 pages of observations on issues in learning technologies, principally for learning & development professionals.