Widecells Group Plc (LON:WDC) CEO João Andrade & Vice President of WideAcademy Alan Greenberg talks to DirectorsTalk about the development of a bespoke stem cell focused educational platform to deliver authentic, factual and trustworthy content on stem cell treatments and life sciences. João gives us an overview of WideCells and Wideacademy and their relationship with each other, why there is a need for Wideacademy in the marketplace. Alan talks about Wideacademy’s mantra, what its trying to achieve and why, Wideacademy’s path to commercialisation and what we should expect to see in the next 6 to 18 months.
WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem cell treatment, announced that Wideacademy, its 100% owned education and training division, has designed an innovative Software as a Service (‘Sas’) platform (the ‘Platform’) to deliver authentic, factual and trustworthy content on stem cell treatments and life sciences. The Platform is currently being developed, with commercial launch targeted for Q1 2018, and will aim to:
· Inform the medical industry of the benefits of stem cell treatment;
· Educate and inform consumers on stem cell innovation and best practice; and
· Partner with enterprise, within both the stem cell and insurance industry, to create training and digital resources.
The Platform is a unique, purpose built and intelligent technology, created to enhance knowledge sharing, personal learning journeys, and Continuing Professional Development (‘CPD’). It has contextual search functionality, meaning it is responsive and can deliver personalised content relevant to each user’s interest and/or requirement. Combining free-to-access educational areas with paid for premium digital tools and Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’), the Platform has a tripartite structure and monetisation strategy:
· Sponsorship: for an estimated annual membership cost starting at £120 per doctor / medical professional, sponsors will be able to gain access to the Premium Platform, which includes high-end content, digital tools, peer-to-peer collaboration, AI and dashboard reporting in support of stem cell innovation and education.
· Courseware and Accreditation:
o two types of courseware focussed on stem cells and life sciences will be offered, which will be free to access to promote learning and uptake:
§ modular – disseminated from long courses provided by reputable academic partners (including leading universities), targeted primarily at medical professionals; and
§ bespoke – built by Wideacademy in collaboration with academic institutions, targeted primarily at people in enterprise.
o For both types of courseware there will be an opportunity for accreditation, whereby Micro Credentials can be awarded in recognition of competency-based professional development. Accreditation is expected to be charged at around £200 per module.
· Platform Licence: Whilst current development of the Platform is focused on the stem cell industry, the Company has identified opportunities to white label it to support development in other industries / areas of medicine.
Spearheading the development of the Platform is Alan Greenberg, former Director of Education at Apple, who has extensive experience and proven success in combining technology and education to deliver engaging and authentic content to drive learning and development. Mr. Greenberg will leverage his knowledge and global contact base to help facilitate the roll-out of the Platform. This will include securing strategic partnerships with leading global technology companies / software providers. The Platform will initially be delivered in English, but international roll-out is targeted.
An initial test version of the Platform is targeted to be made live by the end of 2017, with a more final version available during Q1 2018. The Company expects maiden revenues to commence in H1 2018 and is targeting 1,000 Sponsorships and the purchase of 2,000 modules by the end of 2018.
Wideacademy Director, Alan Greenberg, said, “Since joining Wideacademy in February 2017 we have progressed from vision to strategy and now to commercialisation and materialisation. We have built a platform that permits learning journeys tailored to the needs of the individual. It is an intelligent platform with contextual search and AI functionality, that is crucially adaptable. One platform is able to satisfy any and all needs of both the professional and personal interest. This is game changing technology that supports innovation.”
WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, “We firmly believe that knowledge is power and having identified the huge life-saving potential of stem cells, our focus is now on sharing this understanding with the wider world. By combining education and technology we hope that our platform will see Wideacademy become the trusted thought leader and go-to resource in the stem cell industry, helping people make informed choices on their medical treatment and support industry development. With his unrivalled skill set and experience in delivering tech based educational products and services, Alan is undoubtedly the right man to be developing and driving forward this highly innovative proposition.”
