(Hong Kong, 13 October 2020) NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (“NetDragon” or “the Company”, Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that NetDragon Huayu Education, the education subsidiary of NetDragon, and Sony Global Education, the education subsidiary of the world-renowned Sony Group, jointly announced the launch of “Smart Education Platform” (the “Platform”) in the Digital Silk Road Sub-forum of the third China Digital Summit held on 13 October 2020. The Platform will first launch in certain key prefectures in Kanto region of Japan, in October 2020, to provide education information management and education big data services to domestic education institutions.
This is the first landing project following the signing of the “Cooperation Agreement on Japan Smart Education Platform” in September 2019, and it is expected to result in increased interaction and sharing of educational resources between China and Japan. In recent years, NetDragon has strategized to develop educational informatisation in Japan with the deployment of technologies in the areas of AI, internet and big data, to facilitate a rapid introduction of education informatisation solutions, which aims to provide quality education management tools, and to ensure smooth and proper daily schooling. Not only do these solutions solve the management issues of education information and resources, they also enhance education quality in the country.
The “Smart Education Platform”, jointly released with Sony Global Education, is developed and optimised based on the SaaS service platform of NetDragon. The Platform offers functions such as teaching, learning, practice, assessment, evaluation and recommendation in a “standardised + service-oriented + componentised” manner in order to create a comprehensive management service platform that matches the characteristics and requirements of Japan’s education system. The Platform provides unified source of data, unified set of interface specifications, centralised application management and other functions to facilitate the integration of various third-party resources. With the assistance of big data analysis, it will enhance the process of digitalisation of school management and scientific decision-making. The Platform plan to further penetrate into other parts of Japan through the distribution channels of Sony Global Education and is expected to be monetized through providing platform operating services and value-added contents and services.
On the launch of the Platform, Masaaki Isozu, President of Sony Global Education said: “The ‘Smart Education Platform’, co-developed with Huayu Education of NetDragon, with strong capabilities in education management and big data analysis, can well match users with a series of personalised learning resources and services. Also, it is of great assistance for school administrators and teachers since it supports them with flexible assembly of multiple modules, ease of operation and stable operation system. The ‘Education Cloud Platform’ plays a vital role in promoting the development of education informatization in Japan, and in the future, it will be further promoted to other regions of the country.”
Dr. Xiong Li, CEO of NetDragon, said: “NetDragon has long been committed to the exploration of new education products which are well-recognised by the industry. In recent years, NetDragon has successfully established cooperative relationships with various countries via exporting digital education solutions and promoting education technologies in neighbouring countries. With the support of the reputation, resources and channels of Sony Global Education in the Japanese market, together with the launch of this ‘Smart Education Platform’, NetDragon will provide more value-added services to the Japanese market. We hope to replicate this model to benefit the rest of the world.”
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About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China’s first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China’s most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless. NetDragon was included in the Hang Seng TECH Index on 27 July 2020.
Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management’s vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the “classroom of the future” to every school around the world.
About Sony Global Education
Sony Global Education is a subsidiary of Sony Group. It was established in 2015. Sony Global Education’s mission is to create a range of services that makes this a possibility and to inspire a passion for learning right across the world. Sony Global Education cooperates with companies, education-related organizations, schools, and education training institutions from all over the world to create new education services and platforms, and is committed to popularizing the concept of STEM, providing high-quality content, services, and exploring new education methods.
For investor enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggiezhou@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com
