The project has been led by ILT Solutions GmbH, a Cologne-based blended learning solutions provider, as part of a consortium of six European eLearning specialists based in Germany, Poland, and the UK. In partnership with ILT Solutions GmbH, the Fachhochschule Koblenz (Germany), ESTAKADA Instytut Edukacji Interaktywnej estakada.pl sp. z o.o. (Poland), Qualitus GmbH (Germany), ILT Solutions Ltd (UK), and Universität Duisburg-Essen (Germany) participated in the successful initial market validation project sponsored by the European Commission, which resulted in the Columbus Portal.

Now fully established, the Columbus Portal is seeking new country partners to actively expand throughout the European region.

The Columbus Portal offers a unique system, distinct from many other online eLearning sites, that makes learning fun, easy, and accessible. It also brings content creation to all of Europe, not just the few. The Columbus Portal takes an integrated approach to eLearning design, combining many elements and powered by a learning management system. It also includes an authoring tool, a payment system, a virtual classroom, and reporting features.

The Columbus Portal provides an eLearning platform through which existing European training-content providers and individuals can share knowledge and skills. For the individual, the platform will provide access to a wealth of learning, including professional training (such as language training), hobby courses, cultural guidance, and even news.

While Columbus will offer instant access to existing training from European training providers, it is the facility for individuals, groups, and companies to create and sell their own training 'tutorials' that is key to encouraging a Europe-wide eLearning culture. These training 'tutorials' can be as simple as providing instructions for wiring a plug, or as complex as explaining how to set up your own online business. Content providers with existing training tutorials will be able to migrate these to the Columbus Portal and dramatically increase their visibility - creating greater sales opportunities.

Prior to uploading to the Columbus Portal all training 'tutorials' are subject to a quality assurance process, designed to ensure training integrity for both the user and the training provider.

One of the first organisations to exploit the advantages of the Columbus Portal was the Beadworkers Guild based in the UK. A hobby/craft organisation with over four thousand members, the Beadworkers Guild quickly recognised this as a fast and easy way to disseminate their knowledge series to a wide audience of not only their own members, but beading enthusiasts throughout Europe.

The Beadworkers Guild took part in the pilot phase of the initial validation project, creating three new eLearning courses based on their educational workbooks. Hundreds of their members completed the courses within days of their being published on the Columbus Portal, with the Beadworkers Guild offering prizes to the first fifty to successfully complete them. The Guild are now developing their educational strategy for the future, and provision of eLearning with tutor support on Columbus Portal forms a core element of this.