-Schools, Colleges and Universities Planning to Drive Up Investment in Technology Solutions-

BETT 2010, 18 January 2010 – 81% of key decision-makers in education believe it is ‘essential’ for schools, colleges and universities to be implementing innovative ICT solutions, while a further 17 % view it as ‘very important’. And 60% strongly agree with the view that ‘schools and colleges that fail to implement such solutions risk being left behind’.

These are among the key findings of LG Electronics’ On-the-Show-Floor User Survey, undertaken at BETT 2010 at London’s Olympia. The survey polled the opinions of 107 senior educational staff, comprising headteachers, teachers, bursars and IT managers from schools, colleges, universities, local education authorities and other government departments.
 
Underlining this emphasis on innovative technology, 58% of respondents are looking to increase their investment in ICT solutions over the next twelve months compared to just 14% who are planning to decrease it.
 
“At a time when budgets remain tight and resources scarce, this underlines just how highly valued leading-edge technology is as a means of delivering competitive edge and supporting the teaching and learning processes within schools, colleges and universities,” says Barrie Guy, general manager of LG’s new Business to Business Group within Business Solutions.
 
This level of commitment to ongoing investment means that keeping costs under control is a priority. Every single respondent agreed that ‘cost-effective ICT solutions are an essential teaching aid in today’s educational environment.’ And 51% strongly agreed with the statement.
 
This cost-consciousness extends to efficient energy management. 86% of the sample stated that the need to keep energy costs under control when implementing ICT solutions was one of their top priorities.  Just 2% said that it was of little or no importance.
 
Keeping Costs Under Control

High purchase costs were identified by 74% of the sample as the main barrier preventing their organisation from purchasing ICT solutions with a further 13% pinpointing high energy/running costs.
 
In terms of the key drivers for making an ICT purchase, the focus was on supporting the teaching and learning functions within an organisation. 45% of the sample identified ‘providing a key teaching aid’ as their key driver, while 32% highlighted ’delivering more learning value from ICT budgets’. Broadening access to ICT was also seen as important with 75% of the sample ranking it as one of their top two drivers.
 
According to Guy, “the survey clearly demonstrates the emphasis staff throughout the educational sector place on innovative ICT solutions that not only support the development of interactive teaching but also enabling them to deliver more learning value to more learners from their ICT budgets. LG is focused on helping organisations across the sector to achieve these goals with its ground-breaking array of solutions for education, including the environmentally friendly LG Network Monitor solution, which delivers low cost of ownership and high return on investment.”