Highlights:

• The University of Newcastle successfully launched Whizzard education solution to audiovisual ‘Living Histories’ archives and library.
• University staff, researchers, and affiliates now have access to Whizzard.
• High-value use-cases for Whizzard identified in the development phase, including a larger market need across galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMx).
• The launch of Whizzard for the University of Newcastle sees the first phase of the original contract executed.

The University of Newcastle, one of the world’s leading and most innovative universities, has successfully launched Whizzard for “Living Histories” archives and library, making it available to over 6,000 Staff and Researchers.

Early signs indicate that the product will be invaluable for their library, students, research communities and soon-to-be, public. Throughout its deployment, the University shared some clear product benefits, including increased research capabilities, improved quality of research, efficiency gains for their librarians and researchers, and increased collaboration across the University.

University of Newcastle, Chief Information Officer (CIO) Anthony Molinia said:

“We are incredibly proud to be the first university globally to launch Whizzard, and with that having the opportunity to input into product features and design. We are excited by the first use-case now implemented for historical archives and increasing our research capabilities across GLAMx. With this first phase now launched, we are looking forward to working with Linius on the next iteration of Whizzard”.

University of Newcastle, Coordinator of GLAMx and Digitization Projects Dr. Ann Hardy said:

“What took us six weeks, we can now do in minutes with Whizzard”.

She also commented, “With a very quick search I discovered a video clip for which I had been searching for more than two years”.

Linius, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), James Brennan, said:

“This is a significant milestone for Linius, and the roll-out of our education solution for the higher-education sector. Throughout the development period we discovered multiple use-cases, including a market opportunity and need for the product across galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMx); which is a proposition marketable and repeatable for Linius to a much broader audience.”

In its most recent Market Update to Shareholders published on ASX April 2022, the Company confirmed it has connected with most Australian and New Zealand universities and has a strong opportunity pipeline and focused roadmap to accelerate user adoption.

This first live deployment provides a tangible, scalable and repeatable solution for the Company’s sales and marketing efforts, and it believes that this first live launch will stimulate momentum in the market.

With the first deployment complete, timeframes for future deployments of this solution can be delivered in weeks, versus months.

The global higher-ed tech market is set to reach USD 288.4 by 2031 (CAGR 14.5%), with 1.4 million students choosing to study in Australia’s universities each year.

With this first phase deployed, Linius and the University of Newcastle are planning the next phase, with use-cases and applications for Whizzard more widely across the university. The University of Newcastle contract continues within the terms of the original agreement.

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