PCG Academia cooperates with the Polish Rectors Foundation with regard to joint research, publishing, training and evaluation activity aimed at developing and supporting the higher education and science sector in Poland. The first joint undertaking by PCG and the Polish Rectors Foundation was a project conducted in early 2016, “Educational Analytics at Universities”, which resulted in the analysis of data of over 10% of the student population in Poland and verification of mechanisms supporting efficient student enrolment and retention. The Polish Rectors Foundation, headed by Professor Jerzy Woźnicki, is an independent non-governmental organization, established in 2001 by 80 rectors of universities forming the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland. It supports the development of education, science and culture in Poland, including in particular higher education. The most significant achievements of the Foundation include elaborating the first draft of the Higher Education Law, adopted in 2005.
PCG Academia cooperates with Kozminski University in Warsaw with regard to the elaboration and implementation of consulting and IT services for the higher education market. Within the framework of strategic partnership, PCG and ALK jointly elaborated a comprehensive scientific output information management system as well as analytic solutions supporting student enrolment and retention. At the order of the University, PCG conducts, among others, the implementation of the Norwegian INSPERA system for electronic student examination. Kozminski University is one of 67 universities worldwide, and the only one in Poland, to hold the three most prestigious accreditations (the so-called Triple Crown): AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. It is the best business university in Central and Eastern Europe according to education rankings published by the “Financial Times” journal.
Blackboard Inc. is a world leading provider of e-learning technologies, LMS platforms and analytical solutions for higher education. According to Juan Ramon Alegret, RVP South East EMEA (Vice President of Blackboard Inc. for EMEA), Blackboard systems are used by 80% of leading universities in the world, including universities from the top of global rankings, such as the Shanghai Ranking. Blackboard's solutions are used by 100 million users in 90 countries around the world.
Cooperation between PCG Academia and Blackboard Inc. developed in 2018 during a conference and seminar series Academy of Innovation for Universities organized by PCG Academia. The aim of the events was to present IT solutions supporting university management in the areas of administration, processes and didactics. The e-learning solutions, LMS and ERP systems, the Student Information System, e-services for the university and the mobile application mStudia were widely presented at that time.
Blackboard Inc. is also the institutional partner of the LUMEN Conference 2018 (Leaders in University Management) implemented by PCG Academia in substantive cooperation with the Polish Rectors Foundation and under the annual honorary patronage of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
As a result of the agreement concluded on 16 July 2018 in Orlando, PCG Academia has included Blackboard tools in its portfolio and became the exclusive distributor of Blackboard solutions in Poland. A wide description of e-learning technologies, LMS platforms and analytical tools for didactics is presented here.
PCG Academia cooperates with the Norwegian company Inspera with regard to the distribution of the Inspera eAssessment IT system on the higher education market in Poland. Inspera is the leader on the international market of solutions providing secure electronic examination for school and university students. In Sweden and Norway, Inspera is used during the national secondary school final examination, taken each year by over 250,000 students. At universities, Inspera enables comprehensive management of the student examination process, regardless of the type or the size of the university. Inspera currently operates in 24 countries all over the world and is used by some of the world’s best universities, including the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.