Smart integrated digital contents and educational platform

Project Information

Bsmart - Pro

Grant agreement ID: 711653

DOI

10.3030/711653

Project closed

EC signature date 24 November 2015

Start date 1 December 2015

End date 31 March 2016

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

BSMART LABS SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Bsmart - Pro (Smart integrated digital contents and educational platform)

Reporting period: 2015-12-01 to 2016-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Bsmart-pro aspires to be a disruptive integrated digital contents and educational platform for the global community of students, teachers, schools and publishers, enhancing the teaching and learning processes by creating a virtual market place in which community members, particularly publishers, find a new channel to boost their sales of educational materials and educational offer. Regarding costs, our business model allows students to access an educational contents package at a 30 to 60% discount price as compared with direct purchase from publishers. The participating publishers benefit from a virtual school platform that allows them to boost their customer base which, at the end of 2015, already counted with 280.000 users only in Italy and is expected to reach 2,7 million in 2022.
In order to confirm the feasibility of Bsmart-pro, after a four month study, we have developed the present report that checks the technical, commercial and financial feasibility of our project. We have analyzed the technical developments ahead and prepared the execution plan for the development of the new Bsmart modules and their integration in the new Bsmart-pro platform. We have performed an in-depth analysis of the target markets out of which we have developed our market strategy and our plan for the Bsmart-pro market launch to the international markets. Financially, we have drafted a detailed 5-years financial forecast which has confirmed the potential return on investment of the Bsmart-pro project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The past 4 months we have developed a thorough feasibility study to guarantee the techno-economic viability of our project. Here we present the main areas of focus and the results obtained:
Task 1: Feasibility and Market Research Study: This task comprises 2 sub-tasks as follows:
Task 1.1 Market study and commercial strategy for Bsmart-pro: We conducted a complete market research and analysis of the global schools learning management system with a particular emphasis in European, Eastern Europe, Latin America and North of Africa markets. Markets in countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Germany and UK have been analyzed in-depth. A stakeholder survey has been performed, which helped us to complete a revised strategy for our pre-commercialization activities, the formalization of the necessary partner alliances, and a planning including the deployment of three Bsmart-pro pilot demonstrators.
Task 1.2 Technical feasibility of Bsmart-pro platform upgrade an scale-up: We have carefully planned and evaluated the costs of all the necessary activities for the Bsmart algorithm optimization for the platform technical upgrade, to complete integration of modules and scale up so that it can be ready for implementation in international markets.
Task 1.3 IP strategy: A deep evaluation and subsequent strategy of IP protection for BSmart algorithm, software copyrights and key features has been executed.
Task 2 Business plan development: We have developed a living document projecting 5 years into the future, outlining the necessary collaborative investments, development next-steps and future commercialization efforts. A market and risk analysis has been conducted in order to overcome competing solutions and best satisfy user requirements.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Europe and the World face an increased demand for education. According to the 2012 EC Rethinking Education Communication to the European parliament, it is time to scale-up use of ICT in learning and teaching. A personalized and flexible learning in which the use of technologies is embedded in educational practice is needed. Large-scale pilots in real-life environments should be defined to test new pedagogical and assessment approaches. The 2013 EC Opening-Up Education initiative also calls for scaling up the use of ICT-supported learning. Key actions should be modernizing the ICT infrastructure of schools and supporting ICT-based teaching.
Bsmart-pro tackles these European & global challenges by enhancing access for schools & students to a flexible and personalized e-learning environment. The large-scale pilots that will be developed will allow for new ICT-based pedagogical and assessment approaches to be tested.
Bsmart-pro approaches the educative community with an integrated virtual educational platform, which improves the way in which students acquire knowledge; teachers support and control the learning process; publishers provide digital and interactive books; and users benefit from shared contents by the community and a personalized offer of virtual classes and tutorials.

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