An event held at Australia House, in The Strand, London, to mark the start of ‘London Learning Week’ saw – among other things – the official launch of an international think-tank dedicated to analysing issues and trends in the corporate online learning technologies industry.

The think-tank, called The Company of Thought (TCoT), aims to address unsatisfied customer needs and build new business models around them. In particular, it aims to report and comment on trends within the corporate online learning technologies industry worldwide, independent of any vested interests.

According to one of TCoT’s founding principals – Craig Weiss, the California-based internationally known market analyst specializing in learning management systems (LMSs) – “TCoT offers its clients the opportunity to acquire in-depth industry knowledge, to reduce risk – because TCoT provides knowledge about industry developments so that they can take decisions about their future based on the best possible market knowledge at the time – and to reduce cost. Basically, you won’t be able to access such high quality, accurate and comprehensive information more cost-effectively.”

TCoT’s founder principals are Craig Weiss (California, USA), David Patterson (UK) and Bob Little (UK). Other founder members of the think-tank are: An Coppens (UK/ Sweden/ Belgium), Iva Matasic (Croatia), and Graeme Coomber (UK/ Australia/ Singapore). From time to time, other online learning sector specialists are invited to join – and contribute to – TCoT.

TCoT’s industry specialists are available to carry out such projects as assessing clients’ and/or clients’ competitors’ products. They can speak at clients’ webinars, conferences or give private consultations about industry trends.

In addition, they can carry out specific research projects and write articles or blog posts for clients. TCoT members also contribute to a quarterly industry report, which is for subscribers only.

To mark the public launch of TCoT, its industry report for June 2015 is freely available, on request. The report covers the latest news, trends and analysis on:

• Innovation/ leading edge e-learning – notably, MOOCs
• Developments in learning management systems (LMS)
• Augmented reality, virtual reality and other potentially immersive learning tools
• Gamification
• Personalized e-learning and big data analytics
• UK and Continental European e-learning trends

“Establishing TCoT marks a new era in international collaboration with the online learning technologies industry,” commented TCoT principal and director of the UK-based market analyst, Learning Light, David Patterson. “Our network of online learning specialists are based around the world – so we can provide informed analysis of regional trends around the world as well as information on specific sectors within the online learning technologies industry.”

“At present, TCoT’s clients come from the corporate learning vendors and distributors’ sector,” said TCoT’s Bob Little. “However, there are already indications of interest in TCoT’s unique services from public sector bodies, including some national governments.”