LIST - Spin-off wins two major industry awards

The Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology (LIST) is pleased to announce that TAO®, the Open Source assessment platform for Education and Public Sector Employment developed by its spin-off company Open Assessment Technologies S.A. (OAT), has recently won two major awards in the field of education technology.

TAO received the top prize, Platinum, in the Learning Impact Awards at the 2015 Learning Impact Leadership Institute, held May 4-7, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. Organised by the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the awards recognise the outstanding use of technology by educational institutions in addressing significant challenges facing the sector. TAO, chosen for its mature and proven open source assessment solution, was selected from 16 innovative technology finalists submitted by K-20 insitutions and education technology organisations.

At the Education Industry Summit, held May 3-5 in San Francisco, California, TAO was recognised as the Most Likely to Succeed runner-up among the finalists of the SIIA Innovation Incubator Program based on the votes of conference attendees. Organised by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the incubator aims to support entrepreneurs in their development and distribution of innovative learning technologies through one-on-one mentorship with industry leaders.

“To win any award in this fiercely competitive market is an honor, and to win two back-to-back is a milestone we celebrate with great enthusiasm,” said Marc Oswald, co-founder and CEO of OAT. “These awards stand as testament to our team’s commitment to excellency and our ability to exceed customer expectations at every turn of the way. We are thankful to have our hard work recognized by two of the most prominent organizations in our industry.”

TAO was first developed in 2002 through a research project carried out by the former Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, which merged with the Public Research Centre Gabriel Lippmann on January 1st, 2015 to form the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), and the University of Luxembourg. Further improved through subsequent projects and collaboration with a number of partners in the education sector, the TAO assessment platform is now a cornerstone of the world’s most visible assessment projects, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) PISA studies, as well as NCSC and PARCC in the United States. OAT was created as a spin-off in 2013, and continues to further develop the innovative assessment tool with success, receiving growing recognition within the industry as evidenced by these two awards.

Since the launch of OAT, LIST has continued to be active in the field of technology-based assessment through research carried out by its IT for Innovative Services (ITIS) department. 

• Learn more about the history of TAO in our new video, “From research to business: the TAO® success story”
• Discover the TAO assessment solution at www.taotesting.com