The company’s move in the realm of online learning is one of the many indicators of its potential. In an August 2014 report by Forbes, it noted that the market could reach $107 billion in 2015, citing research by Global Industry Analysts.
“The online learning space is crowded in many ways, but for the entrepreneurial mind there is still plenty of opportunity to build an education business with a niche focus,” wrote Forbes contributor TJ McCue. Any industry has a saturation point, but the ability to differentiate and appeal to a niche will be helpful for any player. And the world of online learning is one that’s ripe for picking by Israeli professionals.
There are a vast number of industries where knowledge from the state’s cohort of experts is deemed first-rate: Defense, agriculture, software development, mobile technology, risk management, sustainable development, desalination, and renewable energy – all knowledge intensive. The range of specialized content that can be produced for these sectors is vast and demand immense. Imparting much needed information, packaged through online courses, webinars, and the like, could serve as an Israeli export requiring no bilateral trade agreement. The creation and delivery of these materials only made easier by the country’s developed broadband network and Internet infrastructure.
Israel’s recognized branding as a Start-Up Nation and academic environment that includes the world’s finest universities (including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who counts Albert Einstein as a founding board member), only lends credence to the potential quality of academic and non-academic learning produce in Israel or by Israelis.
The world’s leading tech companies, from Intel to Facebook, rely on Israeli brains to discover and create innovative products and services. It wouldn’t be far-fetched for the world to appreciate the knowledge coming from the nation’s brilliant minds.