According to the SMART Technologies Facebook page, it all started 22 years ago. Dave Martin and Nancy Knowlton were driving through upstate New York when Dave told Nancy about an idea he had – a whiteboard that would work with a computer that could be controlled by touching the screen. A year later, in 1987, Smart Technologies was founded. By 1991, Dave and Nancy had created the world’s first interactive whiteboard.
Since 1991, over two million boards have been sold to both educational and work environments, and are used by more than 40 million students around the world. The technology is also used extensively in the U.S. military and government agencies, and over 125 Fortune 500 companies in over 50 countries.
Smart Tech interactive whiteboards combine a simple whiteboard with the power of a computer, allowing teachers and businesses a communication tool that is not only visual, but interactive as well. Smart Tech whiteboards are helping people around the world teach, learn, present and collaborate on projects.
To date Smart Tech has received 30 awards including:
- The 2011 Digital Alberta Outstanding Achievement Award
- Ranked #18 on the 2011 Branham300 list of Canada’s top ICT companies
- In 2011, the Smart Technologies Headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard certification for its numerous green construction features and SMART’s implementation of outstanding environmentally sound practices
Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Smart Technologies has offices in the U.S., Japan, China, Germany and France employing over 1,700 people worldwide.
This past year, Smart Tech celebrated it’s 20th anniversary with cumulative sales of over US$3 billion since the company’s start in 1991. Smart Tech interactive whiteboards lead the interactive whiteboard category with a 63% share in the United States, 44% share in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and 47% share globally.
Congratulations, Smart Tech! By the sounds of it, this Canadian technology company will have no problem celebrating another succesful year in 2012.
For more information, visit smarttech.com
