Cable & Wireless HKT and Digital Creation Ltd, a Hong Kong-based IT solutions provider, formed a joint venture that will develop Web-based integrated learning solutions for educational institutions in Hong Kong and Asia.
Cable & Wireless owns 51 percent of the venture, called Cable & Wireless HKT Schoolteam (Asia) Ltd, while Digital Creation holds a 49 percent stake.
“Through this joint venture we will facilitate efficient sharing of data and knowledge among schools, students and parents, help to promote the use of Information Technology and the Internet in education and nurture a pool of IT talents for the Hong Kong community,” said Linus Cheung, the chief executive of Cable & Wireless HKT.
Schoolteam will provide Web-based interactive applications including newsgroup functions, online scheduling, a test tracking database, online library access and e-mail services.
“In our partnership with Cable & Wireless HKT, we can be assured of immediate market acceptance owing to our partner’s marketing prowess, which will allow us to focus exclusively on the further development of the Schoolteam technologies for the greater benefit of our users and the educational communities at large,” said Gabriel Yu, chairman of Digital Creation.
The Schoolteam venture will market its products and services to schools in Hong Kong and Asia charging the schools licensing fees for the software and the students a small fee.
To assist its regional branding strategy in Asia, Cable & Wireless (C&W) recently changed the name of its Hong Kong operation, Hongkong Telecom, to Cable & Wireless HKT.
Many have speculated over the last few months that C&W HKT will list its Internet arm, Interactive Media Services, on the NASDAQ.
Cheung did not rule out this possibility and indicated that a decision was pending.
Digital Creation is owned by Italade Technology Ventures Ltd (ITVL) which aims to be a global leader in Chinese technology ventures.
ITVL’s companies include Digital Creation, Chinese Books Cyberstore Ltd, operator of a pioneering Chinese Web-based bookstore, Digital Vision Multimedia Co Ltd, developer of educational and multimedia products, Digital Heritage Publishing Co Ltd, developer of Unicode and publisher of the electronic versions of Chinese literature, and Magically Inc, a U.S.-based provider of Web-based solutions for group communication.
