Leading EdTech project launches French hub to boost the French EdTech market

The programme is a partnership between the Département du Val d’Oise, CY Cergy Paris Université (new higher education institution created on 1 January 2020 regrouping the University of Cergy-Pontoise and EISTI engineering school) and ESSEC Business School. 

The launch takes place today (28 November) at the Futures Composes conference, in Paris, with the first cohort of companies joining the research accelerator in April 2020. 

The collaboration builds on UCL EDUCATE team’s extensive EdTech expertise and their experience accrued over the last three years running EDUCATE London at its base at UCL Knowledge Lab, a research centre in the IOE. EDUCATE has worked with more than 250 EdTech SMEs and startups. 

This latest venture will bring the different sectors of French education, research and business together to build evidence-led, fit-for-purpose EdTech. 

EDUCATE France aims to bring to the French education system the best that science and technologies can offer. Its innovative approach will give EdTech companies the research tools and methods they need to ensure the efficacy of their solutions, leading up to better educational outcomes for all.

EDUCATE France will bring together entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and students to develop new, technological solutions to many of the challenges facing educators and learners, and will help French EdTech entrepreneurs to develop, test and evaluate their products using a structured approach. 

In supporting this project, the Department of Val d’Oise, which has responsibility for the running of 111 middle schools, plans to strengthen its support to students and help its teachers deliver better teaching every day. 

The launch of EDUCATE France will also connect additional partners – including AFINEF, ATOS, the Banque des Territories, EdTech France, MGEN, the Région Ile-de-France, the Rectorat de Versailles and Ubisoft – to support the delivery and growth of EDUCATE France into a major force in the country’s EdTech landscape. 

Professor Rose Luckin, the founding director of UCL EDUCATE, and professor of learner-centred design the IOE, said the launch of EDUCATE France was an important development in the organisation’s expansion beyond the UK.

“EdTech is a burgeoning industry in France, with growing investment in the sector and home to some of the most interesting innovation currently taking place in Europe,” Professor Luckin said. “It feels appropriate and sensible, therefore, that we should engage in this collaboration so we can share our expertise, knowledge and experiences on a pan-European basis.

“EDUCATE France is the first of what we hope will be many similar ventures with partners overseas, and we look forward to working closely with our French colleagues and associates to take EdTech design and development forward – for the benefit of learners everywhere.”

Links

• EDUCATE
• UCL Knowledge Lab
• Department of Culture, Communication and Media
• View Professor Rose Luckin’s research profile