Page 5 - Winter 2026

Industry News

‘Building the Talent Pipeline: The Esports Opportunities • Citic Telecom CPC: (AI Excellence Award).
for Higher Education’, which was moderated by Tom
• ECL: (Technology Project of the Year).
Dore, Vice-president of the British Esports Federation,
who was joined by Professor Andy Miah, Chair of • Carrier: (Security of Tech Award).
Science Communication and Future Media at the
• Atnorth: (Green Data Centre of the Year).
MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub
at the University of Salford, and Rams Singh, Esports • Michael Smith Switchgear: (Environmental
Coordinator at the University of Chichester. Product of the Year).
In this presentation “huge opportunities” were said to • VID Firekill: (Special Contribution to improving
exist for universities and higher education with “lots of Resilience through Innovation).
eyes on the UK”. Organised competitive video gaming
• T5 Data Centres: (Best Data Centre Operator).
currently involves 18,000 students from 110 universities
and the audience was enlightened about Chichester Across the five sub-shows of Tech Show London there
University’s pilot, now in its seventh year, which were just over 300 presentations, which began on
provides students with a taste of esports in different the Mainstage with Louis Theroux, who spoke about
areas, leading to transferrable skills. Meanwhile at the ‘Where Technology meets Humanity: Power, Behaviour
University of Salford there is “a thriving community and the Systems we build’. His message was that
BSc in Esports Management” with access to high platforms are structures that amplify behaviour at
performance computers enabled. scale and that social media was “maximised for our
engagement, for our attention, for our time”, but “that
The audience learnt that there are currently 71 courses
HIGHLIGHTS in esports in the higher education sector and that optimisation model carries consequences”.
the competitive element was very much student-led
OF BETT 2026 with over 2,000 teams playing mostly from halls of
residence, although some further education colleges
have dedicated centralised facilities.
The speakers were keen to point out that “the entire
economy of the entertainment industry is changing”
with the video games industry now worth more on an
annual basis than both film and music combined. The
sector is also innovative, with Starcraft 2 now set up
as a “test for AI” with some of the technology “pushing
EdTech Innovation Hub Magazine (January - Presentations at the event included: the boundaries of capabilities”. In addition, senior
March 2026) and The Youth Empowerment Magazine managers in industry are recognising the transferrable
• Systems Thinking for AI Integration to empower
(January 2026) both featured previews skills element with many of them viewing esports as
Educators
of BettUK 2026, an event which this year celebrated “an attractive area for recruitment”.
its 40th year. • Beyond Chatbots: Sparking Curiosity and Agency
with AI for Tomorrow’s Kids. Tech Show London
EdTech Innovation Hub describes the event as ‘an He was followed by another well-known broadcaster,
unmissable celebration of progress, purpose and • Keeping Students safe in the Age of AI: How you Tech Show London consisted of a collection of Professor Hannah Fry, who spoke about ‘Stories from
possibility’, highlighting the role of Tech User Labs, now can protect, detect and empower. exhibitions, namely Data Centre World, Cloud and the Edge of Technology and Science’. This argued
on the show floor following overwhelming demand AI Infrastructure, DevOps Live, Cloud and Cyber that “there is nothing inherently good or evil about
• Pupils in the Digital World: A collaborative
last year that saw some sessions oversubscribed by Security Expo, and Big Data and AI World. technology, the determining factor is the incentive
Approach.
over 400 per cent. Also included is the ‘refreshed and structure behind it”. Opening with a study in which
Of the approximately 467 exhibitors the majority (320)
expanded’ Women in EdTech initiative, in particular • How Schools are elevating Campus Connectivity pigeons diagnosed cancer slides with 99 per cent
the Women in EdTech Mentoring Circles, which were with Integrated Networking. were located in Data Centre World, where the Data accuracy when their decisions were aggregated, she
Centre Advisory Council was officially launched on
launched last year and now provide a supportive challenged assumptions about what distinguishes
• Reclaiming Critical Thinking in the Age of AI.
space for women to meet peers, share experiences March 4th., providing a forum for its members to work human intelligence. Her message was that “maybe
and form meaningful connections. Elsewhere in the • Learning Everywhere: The Digitally enabled collaboratively on various initiatives. artificial intelligence is suddenly doing so well not
publication Neil Almond, a UK-based teacher and Evolution of Higher Education. The centrepiece of the event was undoubtedly the because they’re becoming more human, but maybe
educator, ETIH Innovation Awards judge and author of annual Data Centre World Awards, which are now in it’s because the things that we thought made us
Teacher Prompts, examines where AI can genuinely their sixth year. Winners this year were: special actually turned out to be pigeon work”.
There was a notable emphasis this year on esports
reduce teacher workload and where its limits remain.
with this topic featuring in both the Live Classroom • Liquid Cooling DCX Systems: (Innovation Product Day 1 established the principle that AI amplifies the
The Youth Empowerment Magazine, powered by Theatre and the Higher Education Theatre. of the Year). systems already in place and that as AI advances,
Excellence Online Academy, was launched at direction depends on design. Day 2 looked more
In the former the subject was Esports in Education: • Legrand: (Best Re-use or Recycling of Products,
BettUK 2026 and aims to highlight the achievements specifically at applied AI, cyber security and
Driving Leadership Skills and Tech Innovation, Energy or Data Centre Infrastructure).
and aspirations of students, teachers and young enterprise transformation.
moderated by Kalam Neale, Head of Education for
entrepreneurs who are reshaping the future of • Vertiv: (Most Successfully delivered Data Centre References: Uffindell, R., ‘Tech Show London Day 1: AI’s Power is
the British Esports Federation, and with contributors
education and innovation. The magazine describes and Best Talent Developer - 2 awards). Clear - its Direction remains open’, Data Centre Review, 4th. March.
including the RNN Group and Ethan Cartwright, Esports
Bett 2026 as ‘the global epicentre of education and DCi Frontiers, The Magazine, Issue 1: Spring 2026, various articles.
Teacher at North Notts College. • Data Center Efficiency SDEA Navigator: (Special
innovation’. Data Centre Solutions, Special Edition London 2026, various articles.
In the latter presentation the subject had the heading Contribution to improving Energy Efficiency). Electrical Engineering, February 2026, p. 34-41
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