Visiting some Chinese cities can be an enlightening experience as to what the near future of metro areas might look like. For better or worse. Follow along Dean Saunders, CEO of eCreators, as he witnesses the “living timelapse” that is Hangzhou, a 22 million people holiday metro area 2 hours from Shanghai.
“From the moment you arrive in Mainland China, you feel a sense of urgency (…) From crane construction to buildings, facilities and campuses seemingly popping up out of nowhere, the entire city is somewhat of a living timelapse. The scenery and landscape change on a daily basis.”
In Hangzhou Cloud Town, the conference center could not have a more fitting name for APSARA 2019, the annual conference with up-and-coming cloud powershouse Alibaba showcased Saunders and the audience “a display of technology like no other.” The tech took a little sample in return.
“Airport style security is your first port of call followed by the scanning of your QR code, lined up with auto addition to a facial recognition database. Your face serves as your right of passage for the remainder of the conference, and it’s incomprehensibly fast.
Suffice to say my chances of ever becoming a secret agent are now well and truly doused.”
From the “futuristic hum” of electric vehicles to sensor-driven retail, to iamtheCODE and AI-powered rehabilitation of formerly trash-ridden riverbeds into livable waterways, Saunders is optimistic about the future. The competition between innovation centers should ultimately benefit users, customers and learners, “if you choose the right tools.”
Saunders is all in with the next-gen cloud technologies made possible by the continuous cloud race. eCreators, the largest Moodle Partner in the Asia Pacific region, recently announced his partnership with Alibaba Cloud. This means customers will enjoy the cutting-edge in cloud technology at higher speed and reliability, at lower price points.
The alliance makes eCreators the single LMS provider in the Alibaba marketplace, a distinction that will likely not last too long. It is also expected to allow the Australian company to deliver on their exciting roadmap, which is always updating, and this year alone includes:
- Brand new Learnbook eCommerce solution, seamlessly integrated to the LMS
- Multitenancy
- Localized LMS solutions for learners and customers in countries such as China, Malaysia and Singapore
Key partnerships
including expert video content solutions providers GO1 and Warpwire
APSARA 2019 featured top academics in China and worldwide, Nobel Laureates and the Alibaba CEO.
Check Saunders photo essay in Hangzhou Cloud Town:
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