"We will continue to focus on the highest safety!"
Interview with Christian Schwaiger, Managing Director of SMART Technologies (Germany) GmbH
Where blackboards, chalk, and flipcharts were once used, modern technology has long since taken over. A significant contributor to this is SMART Technologies (Germany) GmbH, which, with its Interactive Flat Panels and the corresponding software, opens up entirely new ways of learning. The German branch of the Canadian parent company is based in Cologne and today supports not only schools but many other educational institutions as well as industry and the public sector.
Educational researchers worldwide, as well as the German Conference of Ministers of Education, have highlighted four competencies with the 4K model that should be significant for learners in the 21st century: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. "With our solutions, we aim to cover all four areas," states Christian Schwaiger, Managing Director of SMART Technologies (Germany) GmbH. Interactive displays and the appropriate software offer groundbreaking possibilities for educators and learners. "In addition to our products, we also provide services before and after the sale," clarifies Christian Schwaiger. "These include consultancy and software training as well as tutorials."
Groundbreaking Invention
35 years ago, Nancy Nolden and her husband invented large touchscreen solutions in Canada. After their Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) had achieved great success, especially in schools, they continued to develop the product further into Interactive Flat Panels (IFP) with touch functionality. Software for use in education—now offered as a cloud solution—and additional hardware were also added. The company, based in Calgary, has long been active worldwide. As Managing Director, Christian Schwaiger currently oversees not only the DACH region but also the markets in Northeastern Europe up to the Great Wall of China. Out of up to 650 employees in the entire corporate group, currently 22 are working in Germany.
Distribution via Partners
The solutions from SMART are used in a variety of educational institutions. These include schools and universities as well as the industry, where they are used in training and further education, in meeting rooms instead of flipcharts, or as a basis for groups that can work on a document from distributed locations via an interactive display. In addition, command centers of the police and fire department are increasingly utilizing the advantages. The products are distributed in the DACH region through 150 selected partner companies. Given the strict data protection regulations in Germany, the managing director often wonders about cheap imported hardware from China: "We will continue to rely on the highest security, want to bring the benefits of digitization further into educational institutions, and also use AI more intensively."