This past year Labtech participated in 16 Events that were held all over the globe in both speaking and showcasing our training systems. This year we often spoke about Industry 4.0 in terms of how to prepare for the future skills that will be required. We also spoke about the downside of IR4.0 in that changes will happen to industry and that a broad cross section of jobs will be lost, and it will fall to TVET to retrain and reskill these people. This will hit many developing countries quite hard with a number of low and medium labor activities being replaced which will result in their jobs or industries being shifted elsewhere. But there is hope that the rising economies driven by new technologies will continue to uplift people worldwide if we are proactive in training them for the required skills.
Labtech also engaged with senior educators around the globe about how TVET can be transformed by using new digital technologies to virtualize certain aspects of training. Labtech has a major ongoing program to develop a new generation of 3D digital learning resources which can be deployed in several ways ranging from tablets, to laptops, to PCs as well as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality systems. We have been developing new educational development strategies that can reduce the cost of developing new TVET programs substantially, compared to traditional methods. In the coming years we shall see these new systems start to be deployed and they will change the face as well as the cost of education globally.
The list of the 16 events below were the larger events that we participated in and these do not include country specific or customer specific events and workshops which were conducted by the Labtech marketing teams. We hope that next year we also will have an exciting calendar of events and get to share our thoughts and ideas with our fellow educators.
1. GESS Dubai. Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers in the Middle East. Dr. Steven McKee Spoke about how Industry 4.0 will affect developing countries and about innovations in Digital Learning with Virtual TVET. Labtech also Showcased its products especially the new Bio-Medical systems. Location: Dubai, UAE. Date: Feb 27 to March 1, 2018.
2. Eduweek. Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers in Africa. Dr. Steven McKee Spoke about how Industry 4.0 will affect Africa and developing countries. Labtech showcased our new Virtual TVET program featuring a new generation of digital learning content. Location: Johannesburg, South Africa. Date: June 15 & 16 2018.
3. Mena Innovation. Ministerial Conference on Educational Development in the Middle East and Africa. Labtech showcased our Digital Learning solutions with Virtual TVET and met senior education officials from over 20 countries. Location: Cairo, Egypt. Date: July 29 to 31, 2018.
4. Asian TVET Experts Forum. Gathering of senior educators from around S.E. Asia. Dr. Steven McKee spoke about how education needs to respond to new developments in technology. Labtech showcased our new Virtual TVET program featuring a new generation of digital learning content. Location: Putrajaya, Malaysia. July: 23 – 25, 2018.
5. Asian Development Bank Digital Development Forum. Hosted by the Asian Development Bank and is their annual program for digital development. Speaking event and workshop on recent innovations for a digital society. Dr. Steven McKee highlighted developments in digital learning and how it could be implemented better with more impact and better success. Location: Manila, Philippines. Date: September 4 & 5, 2018.
6. 4Th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET – Theme: Moving Together Towards TVET 4.0 Hosted by the SEMEO (South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization – part of ASEAN) and is their annual program for discussions on TVET programs in the ASEAN countries. Brad Ker, Labtech manager for digital programs, highlighted developments in digital learning the potential impact of Virtual TVET. Labtech showcased our new Virtual TVET program featuring a new generation of digital learning content. Location: Manila, Philippines. Date: September 4 & 5, 2018.
7. GESS Indonesia. Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers in Indonesia and S.E. Asia. Dr. Steven McKee Spoke about how Industry 4.0 will affect developing countries and about innovations in Digital Learning with Virtual TVET. Labtech also Showcased its products especially the new Bio-Medical systems. Location: Jakarta, Indonesia. Date: Sept 26 to 28, 201.
8. CPSC-DEAN-CTEVT International Conference on “INNOVATIONS IN TVET FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”. Hosted by the CPSC (Colombo Plan Staff College – a IGO which works in over 20 countries) and one of their main programs for 2018 that pulled in senior educators from over 20 countries to discuss and exchange ideas on educational development for technical and vocational education. Dr. Steven McKee gave speech and highlighted developments in digital learning the potential impact of Virtual TVET. Location: Kathmandu, Nepal. Date: October 4 & 5, 2018.
9. Worlddidac Asia. Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers in S.E. Asia. Labtech displayed in the exhibit its products for technical and vocational training. Location: Bangkok, Thailand. Date: Oct 10 to 12, 2018.
10. International Conference on Skills in TVET for Sustainability co-organized by CPSE, Manila and NITTTR, Chennai at NITTTR Chennai. Mr. Deepak Mehrotra, Labtech manager for India, gave a presentation on educational development innovations. Location: Chennai, India. Date: October 11th and 12th 2018.
11. THE UTHM 18TH CONVOCATION. Organized by Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). Labtech was invited to attend the ceremony as part of the cooperative relationship. Location: Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Malaysia. Date: Oct 20 to 22 2018
12. Worlddidac BERN. Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers from around the world. Dr. Steven McKee was elected as the President of Worlddidac and addressed the bi-annual congress. Location: Bern, Switzerland. Date: Nov 7 to 9, 2018.
13. ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education) – Exhibition. Exhibition for teachers and dealers, Labtech exhibited and showcased our Virtual TVET program. Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA. Date: Nov 28 & 30th 2018.
14. APEC Workshop on Digital Workforce Development. Hosted by the USA Department of Education. Speaking event and workshop on recent innovations in digital learning for industry. Dr. Steven McKee highlighted developments in digital learning in Asia and elsewhere. Location: Washington DC, USA. Date: Dec 3rd & 4th 2018.
15. Learning and Teaching Expo -Exhibition and Conference for educators and dealers in Hong Kong and China. Mr. Brad Ker gave a presentation about digital learning and educational technology for TVET. Location: Hong Kong, China Date: Dec 12 to 14 2018
16. UPSI (Sultan Idris Education University) Seminar on Pedagogy – Labtech’s Malaysia team lead by Shahrir Sultan showcased Labtech Virtual Reality and digital content for TVET. Location: Tanjung Malim, Malaysia. Date: December 15th 2018