Without a doubt, technology touches every aspect of our lives in today's day and age. Education is evolving at a rapid pace, and as we all know, the recent pandemic has put technology at the very centre of education; creating an urgency for the adoption of technology that can engage students of all ages and enhance remote learning. Expanding beyond the four walls of the classroom, technology has profoundly impacted education, opening us up to new ways of learning, communicating, and working collaboratively such that we could not have ever imagined. Educational institutions often seek support from external partners to explore, identify, and implement tech-based solutions for improving education. Here is where Swapna Pawar, Founder & CEO of Edukinect, steps in. Swapna is passionate about partnering with educational institutions to leverage the power of technology to achieve the best possible outcomes for teachers and students alike. Swapna has been advocating the use of technology for teaching and learning since 2010, years before Covid put educational technological transformation front and centre. Swapna has over 20 years of strong experience in education, technology, and change management across India, Australia, and Singapore. Founded in Singapore, Edukinect is a digital transformation consulting company. At the start, it served the education sector, and since then, it has grown leaps and bounds to assist businesses in various industries and government organizations. The company has received several awards and accolades, including Microsoft Global Training Partner of the Year 2021, the Microsoft Global Training Partner for Education Transformation 2020, and was a nominee for Digital Pledge Award from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) 2019, Singapore, to name a few.

When she is not working, Swapna enjoys cooking up a storm and spending quality time with family and friends. An entrepreneur at heart, her first entrepreneurial venture was a fast-food restaurant in Mumbai, India at the young age of 17!

In this in-depth interview with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine team, Swapna takes us through her life journey and shares with us her thoughts on leadership & professional experience as the founder of a technology consulting firm in Singapore.

Take Us Through Your Educational Journey And Prior Industry Experience That You Bring To The Table. What Was It That Drew You Towards Founding Edukinect?

In 1997, while graduating from Mumbai University, India, with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, I started two ventures in fashion and also launched a fast-food restaurant with my friend called Jughead's Corner in Vashi, Mumbai.

Through these early experiences I learned how to become a franchisee, manage staff and suppliers, control finances, value customer service, and build great products. After graduation, I wanted to garner some industry experience, and so I worked for an SMB in India as a Marketing Manager, responsible for recruitment, training, and management of sales staff across eight cities in India. This taught me how to take calculated risks and increased my confidence. After marriage, I moved to Sydney, Australia, where my husband was from. My family has been a strong influence on me especially when it comes to the usage of technology. They have always encouraged me to pursue all my many interests.

It was in Sydney where I gained my first opportunity to pivot my career into the education industry. My interest in how technology is used and its value in education was ignited here. As a firm believer in productivity and efficiency, I was able to push boundaries, explore new ways to adapt to technological advancements, and drive my peers and senior academics to come along on the journey of transformation. After 5 years at Insearch University of Technology Sydney, I joined Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) as the Academic Programs Manager. Here I grew my knowledge and expertise in technology usage and managed staff to run a successful MBA Student Services team. During this time, I also completed my Master of Management degree from MGSM whilst managing a full-time job and a young family. I received a lot of encouragement and support from my family to help me through this period. In 2010, I moved to Singapore and joined Hewlett Packard as a Project Manager, where I worked to support the team at HP managing the government's digital transformation journey. This again gave me vital insight into the use of technology and its benefits daily to the employees. During this time, I was drawn back to the education sector where I was headhunted to manage and lead the Asian International College (AIC) as the Head of College. I was tasked with driving profitability, with my key responsibilities being to transform the college from a loss-making business to a profitable venture - One of my proudest achievements was when I succeeded in achieving this shortly after joining the college. Through my experience with various institutions, I realized that while heavy investments are often made in acquiring technology, they are only partially used without leveraging their full potential. I strongly believed that this had to change. I started to look at the most common and essential applications, such as the Microsoft Office and GSuite applications, closely to understand the offering and the benefits it brings to the education industry. I found that many features from both Microsoft and Google are either free or within the confines of the institutions' licensing legislation that most people were unaware of; I also found that neither the teachers nor the administrators had a full understanding of how to use the applications effectively. One of the reasons I started Edukinect was to address this gap.

“Mahatma gandhi said, "be the change that you wish to see in the world". This principle guides our attitude towards our work. Edukinect's mission is "to enable increased productivity through efficient use of existing technology" we live and breathe this in all that we do”

Tell Us More About Your Firm Edukinect And Its Areas Of Specialization.

Edukinect is a consulting and technology training firm working with educational institutions to enhance classrooms by integrating innovative technology-assisted learning, spatial management, and technology deployment to modify learning. Edukinect works with educational institutions, right from pre-school to higher education, to help instructors embrace technology tools and resources with a focus on achieving better teaching and learning outcomes. Over time, we have also had several SMEs approach us for similar services. The need to adopt existing technology by their end-users, which resulted in increased productivity and efficiency. This resulted in our business expanding to work with SME's in bringing about digital transformation to maximize business outcomes. In the commercial space, we focus on adopting existing technologies to gain productivity whilst connecting the dots within all the different technologies they purchased, analyzing how they could be seamlessly integrated and realizing the business outcomes from these investments. Edukinect is also an authorized test centre for Certiport, a Pearson VUE business that helps with providing industry-recognized certifications. We manage a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs and have individual students and professionals, as well as partnerships with educational institutions and businesses who seek these certifications for their students and employees on an ongoing basis.

As the primary leader at the firm, how do you drive growth within edukinect? What is your leadership philosophy? Also, how do we stay aligned with the periodic evolutions occurring in the industry and tech world?

My leadership strategy is built on three pillars: trust, flexibility, and value. According to Edukinect's fundamental motto, sharing happiness never diminishes it. This drives the way my business is structured and how we work as a team or with our clients. Internationally acclaimed management consultant Peter Drucker famously said, “the best way to predict the future is to create it”. Having the right people in the right place is essential to transforming the team, growth, and business quickly and consistently. I have made a conscious effort to always surround myself with a team of talented, motivated people with rich and diverse experiences. It is common to hear people speak of work-life balance, but I believe in “life balance”. All of our team members have the flexibility that many people only dream of. For example, we have been working remotely since the company was founded. If my team members have personal commitments, they don't need to make false excuses or feel guilty. I don't believe that having them report at a certain time and sitting in front of me makes them work better or more productive. At Edukinect, there is no “clocking in and out” of work, no staying back late to please the boss, or making false excuses. We also pride ourselves on providing our team with the latest technology. Being true to what we are teaching our clients, we strive to use technology to its full potential in our day-to-day work, communication, and collaboration. My team knows that I am supportive and have immense trust in them to always do the right thing for the client and our business. We are all aligned to ultimately delivering value to our clients, but we are conscious that it cannot be at “any cost”. My family calls me a serial entrepreneur and is amused by my obsession with staying current with whatever is happening in the technology industry and how we can help our clients harness these technologies! I closely follow specific companies to stay up to date on their latest offerings and how they might be tied to everyday life. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This principle guides my life, and I encourage my children to pursue their dreams without fear of failure. It also guides my team's attitude towards our work. Edukinect's mission is “to enable increased productivity through efficient use of existing technology.” We live and breathe this in all we do. We foster a continual learning culture at Edukinect; I encourage everyone in my team to pursue training opportunities and gain industry-recognized certifications to maximize the technology we have. We then have the conviction to train and encourage our clients to do the same.

What is your vision for edukinect's growth in the near future? Is the company looking to foray into any areas of capabilities going forward?

Technology, training, and consultancy are the three cornerstones of our business. Edukinect has worked extensively in the education field before venturing into the commercial arena, acquiring commercial organizations, and assisting them in embracing techno-logical tools for higher productivity. With the recent pandemic, we have seen an increase in commercial space demand. Edukinect has been working with people with disabilities, ranging from reading difficulties to mobility disabilities and hearing impairments. We have worked with government organizations such as the Information Media Development Agency (IMDA) in Singapore and the National Library Board of Singapore. For example, we partnered with the National Library Board in educating the public about the benefits of technology through talks and seminars, as well as by providing essential training to the public on specific software applications. We've conducted numerous training sessions for educators at various schools and higher education institutions. We have expanded beyond Singapore to provide all these ser-vices across the Asia-Pacific region for various ministries aimed at empowering teachers. For example, in collaboration with the British Council, Myanmar, we conducted training for educators in Myanmar and conducted workshops for education ministries and institutions in Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. We work with several partners with whom we have synergies to help us spread the message about using existing technologies and adoption, and our partners help us grow further. We also have ambitious plans to expand the business to include enterprise customers and cover the Asia Pacific region in the future.

As A Successful Business Leader, What Advice Would You Present To Young Women And Girls Who Aspire To Follow In Your Footsteps And Become Successful Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs?

Be good at what you do; it is a competitive world out there. Be passionate about the problem you want to solve and own it; work hard, stay on top of your game, and surround yourself with the right people. Have an experienced mentor with whom you can have open, honest conversations, someone who will coach you along the way. You don't have to do it all on your own.

Swapna Pawar, Founder & CEO, Edukinect

As the CEO for Edukinect, we are an Education Consulting and Technology Training partner that works with Technology companies on providing Strategic Consulting and Training to Educational administrators, teachers, students and SME's on effective use of technology in business and classroom.

As Technology Advisor and Change Management Consultant, I have worked with Education institutions as well as Enterprise businesses in Australia, Singapore, India and other parts of Asia Pacific to help them optimize their process and adoption of technology to improve productivity.