EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS, 20 AUGUST 2024 – BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, announced its BenQ Board Pro RP04 was named “Next-Gen School Solution of the Year” in the sixth annual EdTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by EdTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organisation that recognises the top companies and solutions in the global educational technology market. The awards program aims to perform the industry’s most comprehensive analysis and review of the global educational technology industry.

The 2024 EdTech Breakthrough Awards recognised the breakthrough innovation of the BenQ Board Pro RP04, the first interactive display to be fully integrated with Google Mobile Services (GMS), offering schools easier access to Google Play and Google Classroom and a native experience when using Google Search and other Android applications.

“With the BenQ Board RP04, educators no longer need to contend with generic smart boards that confine them to complex software or costly subscriptions. The industry is crowded with smart boards featuring subscriptions that price schools out of future learning innovations,” said Steve Johansson, managing director at EdTech Breakthrough. “The RP04 BenQ Board represents a groundbreaking leap and is our choice for ‘Next-Gen School Solution of the Year!’ By seamlessly integrating GMS, the BenQ Board offers unprecedented teaching and IT management flexibility. Educators can personalise learning, while IT managers tailor the board to school needs.”

The smart board’s user interface features a home screen that allows users to type or speak to browse lesson content from the Google Search bar. Educators can use BenQ widgets, set app shortcuts, and customise their digital teaching space. It offers core Google applications such as Google Drive, Maps, Meet, and YouTube, with other Google Workspace apps available directly from Google Play. The display also offers features such as text-to-speech and multilingual translation.

As with the previous generations of the BenQ Board, the RP04 features BenQ’s EZWrite whiteboarding software, InstaShare wireless screen-sharing solution, and Eyesafe 2.0 certification, which protects users’ eyesight from harmful blue light, flicker, and more. EZWrite facilitates real-time annotation and diverse lesson material display, enhanced by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for editable text conversion. InstaShare empowers collaborative learning by accommodating multiple screens on the shared BenQ Board. What’s more, the BenQ Board empowers teachers to teach their way. They can prepare lessons on the cloud, access lessons with a tap of their personal NFC card, and deliver lessons with AI tools, ultimately helping educators get started and engage students faster.

The mission of the EdTech Breakthrough Awards is to honour excellence and recognise innovation, hard work, and success in a range of educational technology categories, including Student Engagement, School Administration, Adaptive Learning, STEM Education, Remote Learning, Career Preparation, and many more. This year’s program attracted thousands of nominations from over 17 different countries throughout the world.

“The future of education demands tools that work the way educators need them to work and meet the ever-evolving future-readiness standards for students,” said Carly Burton-Sallay, senior marketing manager at BenQ Education. “The BenQ Board RP04 was engineered based on feedback from teachers and from our partnership with many school districts across the nation. We’re honoured that it is acknowledged by the EdTech Breakthrough organisation as an industry disrupter.”

Additionally, BenQ’s centralised user and device management allows schools with Google accounts to easily transition to using BenQ Boards. IT administrators managing existing Google account lists can use the BenQ Identity and Access Management (IAM) system to synchronise their Google Workspace Directory and carry over all user accounts into the BenQ ecosystem. IAM also supports directory syncing with other SAML-based identity providers. Admins can use the BenQ Device Management Solution (DMS) to remotely configure settings, push updates, monitor device analytics, and manage apps. The smart board protects school data through secure login options, access controls, system updates, and app scanning via Google Play Protect.

Find more information about BenQ interactive displays here

Founded on the corporate vision of 'Bringing Enjoyment 'N' Quality to Life,' BenQ Corporation is a world-leading provider of human technology and solutions, dedicated to elevating and enriching every aspect of consumers' lives. To realise this vision, the company focuses on the aspects that matter most to people today - lifestyle, business, healthcare, and education - with the goal of enabling people to live better, increase efficiency, feel healthier, and enhance learning. This includes a diverse portfolio of people-driven products and embedded technologies, spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, audio products, and lifestyle lighting. Because it matters.

The BenQ Group is a powerhouse with a market capitalisation of over $25 billion. It consists of over 30 independent companies operating in more than 30 countries across numerous industries, with a combined workforce of over 100,000 employees. Each Group member is a recognised leader in its field, contributing to the BenQ Group's vast resources, broad R&D, and distinct strategic strengths. By leveraging each company's vertical specialisation to create true scale across horizontal markets, the BenQ Group controls a highly efficient value chain with the unrivalled ability to deliver critical components and world-class solutions in industries such as LCD monitors, projectors, healthcare, 5G networking, green energy, fine chemicals and advanced materials, lighting, IC design, precision components, system integration, branded business, and service. The Group is committed to profitable and sustainable businesses that share its long-standing vision of 'Bringing Enjoyment 'N' Quality to Life.'

The BenQ Group companies include BenQ Corporation, Qisda Corporation, AU Optronics Corporation, Darfon Electronics Corporation, BenQ Materials Corp., BenQ Guru Corp., BenQ Medical Center, BenQ Medical Technology Corp., BenQ AB DentCare Corp., BenQ Dialysis Technology Corp., K2 international medical inc., DFI Inc., Partner Tech Corp., Data Image Corp., MetaAge Corp., ACE PILLAR Co., LTD., Alpha Networks Inc., Hitron Technologies Inc., Lextar Electronics Corp., and Raydium Semiconductor Corp.

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the EdTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honouring excellence in educational technology products, companies, and people. The EdTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough educational technology in categories including e-learning, student engagement, school administration, career preparation, language learning, STEM, and more. For more information, visit EdTechBreakthrough.com.