Better be ready

Released 21/01/2010

With education viewed as a safer market, assistant editor Matt Jane visited the Bett Show, an educational technology show, to see what opportunities are around

There is no such thing as a ‘certain' market at the moment. Various vultures are circling overhead, such as the imminent election and economic uncertainty, ready to have their fill of the cash cows. However, within this sea of uncertainty, there are islands of relative security. The public sector is viewed as a safer option at the moment and judging by the interest generated in this year's educational technology centrepiece, The Bett Show, held at London's Olympia last week, there is good reason for this.

The show features the latest technology products that will feature in schools over the coming months. Interactive whiteboards are a familiar weapon in the office supplies arsenal, and they were duly on display in force. However, they were merely the tip of the education IT iceberg. Other favourites at the show were projectors, including short throw devices; 3D visualisations; and of particular interest to the children in attendance, several Nintendo Wii.

Modern classrooms have come a long way in recent years. Speaking with Bill Jenkins, director of security software supplier Securus, he commented how when he was at school he had a slate and a stick of chalk and a pen in an ink well. Pupils now have personal netbooks, iPhones in their pocket they can tap into and connect to a lesson, all of which offers potential avenues to explore for forward thinking office supplies dealers.

While the predicted musical chair shift of the nation's decision makers will throw a financial spanner into the works, there is still a certain amount of cash to be spent. The government has recently invested huge amounts in school buildings and fittings, which may be one area to be sacrificed in the general election aftermath, but there it would certainly be political suicide to pull huge swaths of funding out of this sector. In essence, there will always be money in the pot.

The Bett show demonstrated the appeal of technology within education. The sheer volume of visitors through the doors into the labyrinth arena of Olympia is testament to the excitement that these devices generate. Schools may not have limited resources, but judging by the reactions of the visitors to the Bett Show, there will be some excited teachers tugging at the apron strings of the headmasters and business managers to get some of this kit into their classrooms - meaning great news for anyone able to supply this to them.

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