Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our company. We have closed our offices in Berlin and found a new home in the city of Bristol in the beautiful south west of England. Why did we leave our beloved Berlin? There are a number of reasons but everything began with Professor S.:

When Professor S. made its debut, it received widespread acclaim and awards both nationally and internationally. Schools and teachers loved the idea and our growth in German primary schools is testament to that. However, we noticed that teachers were often struggling with ageing computers and poor internet connections.

In order to improve the situation, we formed a partnership with Open-Mesh in the US to provide low cost WIFI solutions and improve connectivity in the schools. Still, many schools were struggling to finance and maintain those solutions. But help was at hand: Johanna Wanka, Germany’s minister for education and research announced a five billion euro package to kickstart digital education in Germany.  

Sadly, in the summer of 2017 it became clear that no concrete provisions were made inside the government to secure adequate funding for the initiative and support from the ministry quickly fizzled out. Even though most people agree that progress in digital education needs to be made and Angela Merkel has shown renewed support earlier this year, small companies like ours struggle to survive in a climate of political uncertainty.

But there is a more fundamental, philosophical reason underlying our decision to move to England. In the United States and the United Kingdom, it is easier to create innovations because there is an understanding that to make something new one has to take risks. While in continental Europe – Germany and France in particular – there is a perception that risk is something to be avoided.

Both positions have merit in that the former creates a frequently booming industry based on new ideas while the latter creates an economically more stable environment resting on the foundations of tried and tested concepts.

It is easy to see that LUDINC, as an innovator in education technology would thrive in a climate where entrepreneurship is encouraged and nurtured. Clearly, there are more advantages to being here and I will say more about those in later posts. 

Naturally, we will continue to provide our German customers with the same great products and services they have come to expect from us and we look forward to doing the same for our new friends and partners in the UK.