European Learning Industry Group

The European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) is a pan-Europe lobby group for 'innovation in learning.' Its mission, it says, is 'to change the way Europe learns'.

Its members represent what it calls the 'ecosystem for 21st century learning solutions', which is predominantly corporations providing education products and services and multi-national technology firms.

Interaction with European institutions

Examples of ELIG's interaction with the European Commission:

• Member of the EU’s Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG). This group, made up of corporations, academia, governments, and individuals, promotes policies for 'open innovation' at the European Commission. The group says: 'Our philosophy embraces the Open Innovation 2.0 paradigm: creation of open innovation ecosystems where the serendipity process is fully-fledged... We base our thinking on Quadruple Helix Innovation Model where government, industry, academia and civil participants work together to co-create the future and drive structural changes.' (?) It organises and attends events that support this agenda. The groups members include: IBM; ATOS; Deloitte; Hewlett Packard; Intel; Nesta and others.

• December 2014: panelist on 'Digital learning round table' organised by the European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology, pr DG CONNECT.

• Contribution to the European Commission Consultation on the Future “EU2020”: calls on the EU2020 strategy to 'not only focus on the need for education but also on the need for innovation in education'.

Members

ELIG's corporate members include:

• IBM
• Pearson
• Microsoft (joined ELIG in August 2015)
• Samsung (joined ELIG January 2015)
• HP (Hewlett Packard)
• Intel
• McGraw Hill
• Cambridge University Press
• Wiley

People

Board

ELIG's board includes:

• Fadi Khalek, chair: Khalek is Vice President Higher Education & Applied Learning, Pearson Education; and a Senior Advisor at Active M investment.
• Diem Ho, vice chair: Manager of University Relations (EMEA), IBM
• Paul Hunter, vice chair: Director, IMD's Corporate Learning Network
• Alexa Joyce. board member: Director of Policy, Teaching and Learning for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Worldwide Education, Microsoft
• Steffen Ganders, board member: Senior Manager and Head of Corporate Affairs Samsung

Staff

• Richard Straub, ELIG secretary general; formerly spent 32 years at IBM, including at executive level. 'For the last 10 years Straub has been increasingly involved in European Union level industry initiatives in the area of skills, lifelong learning and innovation as Chair of the European Career Space Consortium (ICT skills and new University curricula required for the 21st Century Economy), the Living Labs Policy Group and the Open Innovation Strategy Group.
• Elmar Husmann, ELIG Deputy Secretary General & Public Policy Advisor; formerly of PwC and IBM (IBM bought PwC's consulting arm in 2002).
• Claudia Didjurgeit, senior adviser; formerly of PwC and IBM
• Sabine Windgasse, operations; formerly of PwC and IBM
• Florence Rizzo, ELIG fellow; founder of Creative Lab for Social Change; also worked with Ashoka, a global network of innovative Social Entrepreneurs

History

Formerly know as the 'eLearning Industry Group', it was founded in 2002. It became ELIG in 2007 as it attracted members from the wider e-learning industry, such as the publishing and content industry. In 2009 it partnered with German agency ICWE, which organises events in education, training and ICT, such as Online Educa Berlin and eLearning Africa.

Contacts

Website: http://www.elig.org