edtech/station in Kortrijk offers space to experiment with new educational technologies for education

The de Kortrijk officially opened its doors on Wednesday 4 May. It is also the starting signal for the development of a strong Flemish EdTech sector on the initiative of the Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation Hilde Crevits. Aid of 1.8 million euros is planned for the development of the sector.

In Kortrijk, research institutes, schools, businesses and the government join forces. The offers a space to experiment and collaborate on new educational technologies for education and corporate training.

Innovation and research

Many EdTech players, as well as the ITEC research group (the research group behind imec’s Smart Education program at KU Leuven Campus Kortrijk) are now hosted in West Flanders.

The choice of Hangar K in Kortrijk as the base for the Flemish EdTech sector is therefore no coincidence. In the ITEC and Hangar K will join forces to develop a strong EdTech ecosystem throughout Flanders.

The necessary facilities are provided to experiment and set up collaborations, so that innovation, research and new projects can develop and grow.

Companies and research institutes from all over Flanders can meet and develop projects together. In this way, Minister Crevits, together with Hangar K and ITEC, aims to create a network of EdTech companies that together have a stronger international position.

Concretely, a demonstration and exhibition space is available in the , workshops and study days will be organized and start-ups and scale-ups will be able to go there for advice and guidance. The will also perpetuate membership of the European Edtech Alliance.

Educational technologies

“The greatest merit of this initiative is that it will bring together and streamline the various initiatives. Thanks to the financial injection from Flanders, Edtech will for the first time have its own structure, its team and therefore its orientation. Moreover, can also rely on the network of founding partners and the Hangar K ecosystem in their conceptual and commercial expansion. Hangar K will thus get an extra leg of growth – in addition to the game”, says Arne Vandendriessche, President of Hangar K.

Now more than ever, students and teachers are finding their way to digital lesson modules with lesson videos, online exercises and tests, or virtual classrooms for distance learning. In addition, after their training in ordinary education, they often find themselves in a business context where more and more use is made of digital technologies in training or continuing education. The development of these educational technologies offers many opportunities for the Flemish economy.