Get inspired at Bett 2023

Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett and STEM advocate Anne-Marie Imafidon are amongst the inspiring speakers at this year’s Bett show, taking place 29-31 March at ExCeL London

On 29-31 March 2023, Bett is back at ExCeL London for three days of inspiring content, networking and product discovery.
    
Bett is the first industry show of the year in the education technology landscape, bringing together over 600 leading exhibitors and over 20,000 attendees from the global education community.
    
The exhibition hosts innovative EdTech and resource solution providers showcasing cutting-edge and impactful products and services. From global tech companies to renowned education brands and startups, visitors will find solutions for all education settings, challenges and budgets.

Industry-leading speakers

More than 350 inspiring speakers are set to take the stage for the three day event, with Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett leading the list. Steven is particularly focused on inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs and creators from a BAME background and much of his work after winning the “British Black Entrepreneur of the year” award focused on disadvantaged schools and communities.
    
Other high-profile speakers include ex-prima ballerina and former Strictly Come Dancing Judge Dame Darcey Bussell DBE. Amongst her many activities she presents The Royal Ballet’s worldwide cinema simulcasts and is a Principal coach at The Royal Ballet. Darcey founded the charity DDMIX & DDMIX for Schools (Diverse Dance Mix), a dance fitness programme, whose primary aim is to have dance fitness incorporated into an expanded physical education in British schools.
    
Bestselling author and co-host to the High Performance Podcast, Professor Damien Hughes, will be sharing his insights on the most innovative and exciting approach to leadership as praised by Sir Richard Branson and Muhammad Ali. Professor Damian Hughes was appointed as a Professor of Organisational Psychology and Change for Manchester Metropolitan University in 2010 and is the co-host of The High Performance Podcast, an acclaimed series of interviews with elite performers from business, sport and the arts, exploring the psychology behind sustained high performance.
    
Bett delegates can also hear from Anne-Marie Imafidon, MBE, who is a leading influencer in getting women to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
    
Since becoming one of Oxford University’s youngest graduates, Anne-Marie has worked across a range of industries and founded Stemettes, a social enterprise dedicated to bringing girls and young women to STEM subjects. She now hosts the Evening Standard’s Women Tech Charge podcast, and comments on technology, the changing nature of work, and the challenges both present to business and society.
    
Anne-Marie has served on the board of DCMS’s Digital Skills Partnership and is a trustee for the Institute of the Future of Work. She has been featured as one of the top ten BAME leaders in tech by the Financial Times, and the most influential woman in UK tech by Computer Weekly.
    
Other inspiring speakers include BBC broadcaster Amol Rajan and Michael Rosen, who is one of Britain’s best loved writers and poets for children and adults.

Sustainability

The UN argues that ‘education is a critical agent in addressing the issue of climate change’ and creating a better world for future generations. From conversations with the Bett global community in the past year, it is clear that sustainability values – from buildings and estates management and technology replacement strategies to embedding sustainability education in the classroom – are a key priority for education institutions going forwards.

What’s more, the Government’s Sustainability and Climate Education strategy places schools and colleges at the forefront of responding to climate change. To support the development of this strategy the Foundation for Education Development has convened a diverse range of partners to develop a ‘one stop shop’ toolkit that enables education settings to implement a climate action plan.
    
The Bett session ‘Leading a climate change and sustainability strategy’ will feature panellists making the case for climate change and sustainability education.
    
Meanwhile Forum for the Future’s CEO, Dr Sally Uren will take a session called ‘Transforming carbon neutral education for a just and regenerative future’. Dr Sally Uren is passionate about driving deep transformation in global systems and has spent more than 25 years working in partnership with business, governments, and civil society to accelerate the shift toward a just and regenerative future. In 2017, Sally was awarded an OBE for services to sustainability at the Queens New Year Honours. Sally joins Bett to explore the massive transformation that education institutions need in order to hit the Department for Education goal of all schools, colleges and universities being carbon neutral by 2030.

Theatres

There are a number of theatres at Bett covering a range of important topics. The Leaders @ Bett theatre is the place for policy, digital strategy, whole school management, FE transformation and more. Sessions are led by institution leaders and their teams.
    
The Teaching & Learning theatre is where we celebrate the best use of technology for engaging all students, demonstrating creative learning experiences that enhance teaching and enrich learning across the curriculum.
    
Bett Academy Live will be modelled on the online series of Bett Academies. This theatre is the perfect place for educators and leaders to top up their CPD. Bett Academy Live will take a closer look at classroom practice with schools sharing best practice and expert bodies delivering practical advice and support.
    
The Tech in Action theatre is the place for practical product demonstrations to deepen understanding and evaluate efficacy of hardware and software solutions.
    
The Futures theatre is the home of the startup where you can discover emerging innovations from EdTech companies in the UK and around the world, at the start of their journey. Sessions are a mix of advice for start ups, showcase pitches from exciting young companies and best practice case studies around evidencing impact.
    
The Global Showcase is the stage where Bett meets the world. The Global Showcase Theatre will host case studies from Ministries of Education, explore methods of entry into regional markets, and present key opportunities for international resellers looking for new products and partners. These sessions will support those looking to build an international network and develop their import/export strategy.  

Esports @ Bett

Esports is everywhere in education, rapidly growing in K12, Further Ed and Higher Ed. An engaging, inclusive way to build STEAM and social-emotional skills, esports also helps develop students’ interest in future technology careers. In a 2020 survey of over 1,100 esports athletes conducted by GYO, over 60 percent said that they planned to pursue a career in either a STEM or esports field.
    
Esports @ Bett, hosted in association with British Esports, will showcase how schools and universities can harness this growing industry to engage students, support teaching and learning objectives and identify future skills. Each afternoon will host a takeover tournament between schools Esports teams.

Connect @ Bett

Connect @ Bett is a new large scale meeting programme, designed to transform how meetings get done in the global education sector. It will enable  EdTech companies and other solution providers, to connect with buyers from education institutions and governments via individual and group meetings.
    
More than 2,000 participants from education institutions and governments, 300 EdTech Companies and other solution providers are expected to participate in over 5,000 meetings at Bett UK 2023.
    
To ensure they are valuable, all Connect @ Bett meetings are double opt-in (both participants want to meet each other) and are scheduled based on each individual’s availability. The meetings will be held in a central location in the Bett Exhibition Hall.
    
Individuals from Education Institutions and Governments will be joining Connect @ Bett to use their time at Bett in the most efficient way possible, to meet the EdTech Companies and other Solution Providers they want to meet quickly and easily.
    
It will allow visitors to discover new and emerging products, services and solutions that can help address their organisation’s challenges and opportunities. It will also allow visitors to participate in 45-minute small peer group discussions called Tabletalks on key education topics.
    
“We launched Connect @ Bett to help our community of solution providers, education institutions and governments meet new people, discover new organisations and create incredible opportunities and meaningful connections at our events,” said Rachel Brodie, managing director of Bett. “This new meetings programme will result in positive changes for them, their organisations and their learners.”
    
Louisa Hunter, Bett director, said: “This year at Bett we are transforming the way that the community connects and collaborates by launching our groundbreaking new meetings programme, Connect @ Bett. We are excited to welcome the community back together again for what is set to be the best Bett yet and can’t wait to hear from our inspiring keynote speakers about their own journeys with education.”

Ahead by Bett

Higher education institutions around the world are working at great pace to adapt to new approaches to learning, accelerate digital transformation, and take advantage of new business models recently introduced to the sector. With tech companies eager to pitch in on what is predicted to be a $40bn market by 2024, how can we ensure we are providing senior leaders in higher education with the right tools to move forward? To support universities and solution providers through this process and in response to emphatic demand from the Higher Education community, Ahead by Bett was launched in 2022 to sit alongside Bett.
    
Ahead by Bett is the destination for higher education leaders to come together with their peers and the world’s leading EdTech’s to learn, network and trade.
    
Ahead by Bett’s content spaces provide an opportunity for senior leadership, heads of faculty, technology leads and heads of research and innovation to congregate and tackle the current business issues faced in tertiary education.
    
Spread across three learning and networking spaces, Ahead by Bett will be hosting over 60 speakers including highly acclaimed author and journalist Matthew Syed, who will be discussing mindset and high performance in higher education, professor Sir Steve Smith, the UK’s International Education Champion on the future of higher education, professor Rose Luckin on AI’s uses for understanding student data and professor Diana Laurillard on professional development as the new frontier of higher education.
    
Visitors will also be able to hear from other changemakers, experience innovation and collaborate with peers all within one place dedicated to Higher Education. Founding partners Jisc, UCISA & Universities UK will be supporting the event and commenting on the launch of Ahead said: “Higher Education institutions around the world are working at great pace to adapt to new approaches to learning, address accelerated digital transformation, and adjust to and benefit from business model disruption. Supporting universities through this process, Ahead by Bett provides a forum to connect with cutting-edge technology solution providers to jointly tackle urgent business and pedagogical challenges. We are proud to support this event.”
    
Max Oliver, event director of Ahead by Bett said: “We are dedicating a whole new sister show to the Higher Education sector. The appetite and interest in this sector has grown over recent years and now is the perfect time for academics, changemakers, heads of faculty, and technology leads to gather together to share the very best in Higher Education practices and their vision for the future of tertiary study around the world.”
    
Last year, content was delivered in The Auditorium, The Sandbox and The Collaboration Space. The Auditorium is the heart of Ahead by Bett and a key platform for change makers, innovators and leaders in higher education.
    
The Sandbox is an opportunity to experience innovation in practice and get hands on with new technologies. The Collaboration Space meanwhile is the central hub for peer to peer learning through curated networking sessions and in depth roundtable discussions.
 
Bett Awards

The Bett Awards are designed to celebrate the inspiring creativity and innovation that can be found throughout technology for education. This year they will take place in the evening of 29 March.
    
Julia Garvey, deputy director general, British Educational Suppliers Association and chair of judges for the Bett Awards said: “The Bett Awards always attract top calibre submissions and this year was no exception. The winners are all amazing and the standard in 2022 was incredibly high – the hardest job we had was narrowing it down to pick a winner each time. We are delighted to be able to recognise the hard work of so many businesses in the EdTech space all of whom have gone above and beyond to support teachers and learners during these uncertain times.”