Dubai springboard for next phase of USD23 billion e-learning industry

    Dumped value of 'ID':
'54805';

Dumped value of 'images_loop':
[
    {
        'caption' => 'Sally Ann Moore, MELT Director.',
        'col' => 'picture',
        'name' => 'sally.jpg',
        'url' => '/6/12336-sally.jpg'
    }
];

There are now about 130 million on-line learners across the world and Dubai will be the springboard for the next phase of development when it hosts the MELT (Middle East Learning Technologies) conference and exhibition in April.

Close on 4,500 professional visitors attended the last global industry event in Paris, and even more are expected for the Dubai edition with delegates coming from all over the Gulf Region, Asia and Europe.

The rising trend is reflected in the growth in numbers from previous conferences - 3,729 in Amsterdam two years ago and 2,650 in Hong Kong the previous year. The event has also been held in Moscow, Hong Kong, Edinburgh, and Vienna.

MELT Dubai 2005 takes place at the Madinat Jumeirah Convention Centre on April 5-6, when specialists, vendors and users of e-learning and knowledge management come together in the Middle East for the first time.

The Europe and Middle East market is estimated at more than $6 billion for 2005, underlining the industry's soaring growth. In 1998 Cisco Systems forecast e-learning as the 'next killer application for the Internet - so big it will make e-mail look like a rounding error'.

Seven years later, the prediction is becoming reality as everyone of consequence in this field descends on Dubai for two days of intensive keynote presentations, expert tracks and interactive workshops, international and local case studies, analyst reports, and surveys on the state of e-learning.

MELT is directed by Sally-Ann Moore, one of the worlds' leading experts in the field, and will feature 1,000 sq m of exhibition stands as well the twin-track conference with simultaneous translation into Arabic and English.

Highlights include an in-depth survey of top corporations using e-learning. A unique feature is a series of clinics for delegates who can bring their own project material and problems and get world-leading specialist advice on instructional design, performance measurement and building the business case for their projects.

Moore, who is also responsible for leading e-learning events across Europe and Asia, says, says the Gulf region represents the fastest-growing e-learning market in the world today, particularly the UAE, which has a specific dedication to the use of new technology in the knowledge economy and where IT spending rose to $1.16 billion last year - a growth rate of nearly nine per cent.

Moore adds: 'Exhibitors booked so far include nearly all the world leading multinational vendors of e-learning systems along with companies based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Dubai.

'They cover learning management systems, authoring tools, testing and assessment software, education administration systems, virtual classrooms, deployment methods and services, courseware for language learning, business skills, IT skills, compliance and vocational certificates - everything you need for e-learning under one roof.

'The MELT conference is much more than a seminar -- it's the best place to update skills and competencies for world-class e-learning.'